


Platonic, Intimacy

by sky_kaijou



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types
Genre: Aged Up, Aromantic, Bisexuality, Fluff, Friendship, Healthy Boundaries, Intimacy, M/M, Relationship Progression., Slice of Life, Violetshipping, puppyshipping - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-21
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2020-05-15 17:22:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 29,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19300318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sky_kaijou/pseuds/sky_kaijou
Summary: What’s the difference between platonic love and romantic love? Katsuya and Seto are trying to find the answer to after reconnecting seven years after graduation.Plus, what really happened at that graduation party?Working title: When We Were Eighteen.





	Platonic, Intimacy

**Author's Note:**

> The story jumps around in timeline a little. The heading is Seto's age at the time of each part. :)

_August. 25._  
  


It was the third Thursday in a row that Seto had noticed his unforgettable face leaning over a workbook and a printout in the coffee shop two blocks from the main KaibaCorp office in town. Brows furrowed as he erased some Kanji and started again. To his right was a latte, just a film in the bottom of the cup and a stain of coffee dripped down the side. Jounouchi hadn’t seemed to notice him, concentrating with one earbud in. His mechanical pencil was tapping to a beat and his head bobbed along.

“The usual, take away,” Seto muttered to the cashier, handing over his reusable mug and taking a second glance to his right, gripped to the organised chaoticity. Jou let out a sigh and cracked his knuckles before pulling his earbud out and looking directly in Kaiba’s eyes.

“Thought I could sense something sinister,” Jou snickered as the barista handed Seto back his mug. An air of invitation, or maybe just self-serving nosiness, drew Seto to step aside and lean in enough to distinguish what Jou had been working on. What looked like an assignment on Marketing.

Seto vaguely knew Jounouchi was still employed part time with KaibaCorp after being hired as part of a promotional package for winning a tournament second place a few years back. Upon Jounouchi’s return to Domino City there had been another tournament and without Yugi in the running, the top two spots naturally fell to the both. They hadn’t talked much beforehand, nor after the duel, but Kaiba was aware that Jounouchi had been kept on for advertisements, upcoming events, and even some modelling for their apparel lines and Duel Disks that Seto had designed and approved himself, and in down time he worked in their retail store downstairs. Despite seeing his face plastered everywhere and working in the same building, he clicked that it’d probably been three years since their last tournament, and much longer since Jounouchi and him had _talked_.

The city had seemed awfully quiet come to think of it…

Seto merely raised his cup at Jounouchi before pointing out a small mistake in his answers, cheeks almost grazing the day-old stubble as he leaned in causing his fingers to wrap tighter around the cup in reflex.

“Thanks.” Jou erased his answer and thought for a moment before asking Seto if he was on the right track. The paper had Domino Community College’s insignia in the corner which Jou had absentmindedly coloured in with graphite.

“Remember the difference between a feature and a benefit,” Seto merely said before taking a sip of his coffee and leaving into the cooling Autumn breeze.  

 

On the fourth Thursday, Seto sat down.

Jou didn’t notice for a moment as he bopped along to pop music and highlighted some notes in his textbook before transferring them onto a flash card.

“You stalking me?” he finally muttered, before catching Seto’s gaze and winking, pulling his earbuds out, letting them messily coil on the counterspace. His eyes shone bright as he took a swig at his nearly finished coffee, sugar from a torn sachet scattered in the saucer as he put it back down.

“Obviously.” Seto rolled his eyes, sipping carefully at the scalding long black in his takeaway mug with a Blue Eyes caricature tiled around the middle in a ring. “Usual study spot?”

“You could say that,” Jou said, pushing his paperwork to the side. Seto caught a glimpse of a grade, an A-, on the sheet he’d been working on the week before. “Been doing distance study at Uni between work and this is pretty close to home and work. Thought I should do it before I regret not.”

“Didn’t think you had the grades to get into a college,” Seto muttered, catching how arrogant the words sounded. “Apologies, that was a bit…”

Jou shook his head, absently picking up a pencil and clicking the lead without acknowledging the apology. “Did some prep school last year. Accepted me in. Wild, huh?”

“A lot has changed in seven years,” Seto muttered.

The last time they’d run in circles outside of Duel Monsters was at Domino High School, but Jou’s group had gradually, member by member, disappeared out of Domino. Through University, through job placements, working holidays overseas. Even Jou had disappeared for a short while, spending a minute in America soul-searching, before realising that, despite the reasons he stuck out like a sore thumb in Japan, Japan was home. A few months spent in Osaka, and then he returned home just after his twentieth birthday to pursue a career with Duel Monsters, ranking in a few circuits, gaining sponsorship and work with KaibaCorp (which he’d stayed committed to - much to Seto’s surprise). Choosing to retire in his mid-twenties from competitive duelling as the first intake of duellists from Duel Academy made it into the senior ranks, Jou was gradually transitioning his life into some semblance of a career and wrapping up his last obligations in the arena as a competitor. But his time was fleeting and doing a full-time four-year University degree just wasn’t feasible financially, so part-time community college it was.

He’d quite liked his time in the spotlight, doing interviews, and travelling Japan. Something about Marketing clicked. He understood a lot more of the jargon that was thrown around sets, as he watched his face get touched up and thrown up on those million-dollar advertisements. But Jou knew his twenty-something beauty would fade and those coins would only stave off his hunger for a few years before he’d land dead on his ass if he didn’t consider his options. Marketing, Public Relations, Advertising. The prestige that came from working at KaibaCorp meant his options were limitless if he applied himself, with a personal backing by Mokuba himself, but Jou was more than confident in his ability to sell himself anyway.

“You’re telling me!” Jou shook his hair out of his eyes and gestured at Kaiba’s filled-out figure, not so much the lanky teenager anymore but physical stature that emphasised his CEO ranking. “So, tell me, what’s changed with you?”

Kaiba just stared at his mug awkwardly before taking a sip. “I suppose I’m exactly where you expected me to be.”

“Maybe a little more social, and a little less dead.”

“Don’t talk to me about managing to survive into your twenties without acknowledging there was a period we thought you wouldn’t make it to school again.”

“Wow, way to cut the chit-chat and get straight to it, huh?” Jou shrugged as he twirled the pencil between his fingers. “I don’t run in those circles anymore, and well, _he_ died when I was nineteen.”

A thick silence filled the otherwise ambient coffee shop, and Seto licked his lips from anxiety. Something about digging so deep into their pasts so soon had knocked the wind out of his lungs. Without making further conversation, Seto reached over and clicked a pen, underlining a few words in his textbook. “These will be important too. Good to see you, Jounouchi.””

“Same time, next week?” Jou winked as Kaiba hastily made his exit, pausing in the doorway to catch one last glance before dashing back to work.

 

 

-

 

 

_February. 17._  
  


Katsuya Jounouchi never expected to be witness to the unravelling of Seto Kaiba. He always thought that there’d be a public mental breakdown with him jetting off in a private helicopter to a deserted island for the rest of his days. Or perhaps even something grandiose, like the demolition of the KaibaCorp offices that overlooked the harbour in celebration of his adopted father’s demise covered live on the Domino Network News.

But right here, in Japanese class, he was fraying rapidly. Tapping his foot on his desk’s leg, twirling a pen between his right index and middle fingers. A bite of his lip. A breathy exhale. A momentary rest of the pen on the corner of his lips as he furrowed his brows while he read an email. Nobody else had caught his outward frustration being seated by the window in the back row. Slender fingers wrapped around a travel mug, the caffeine didn’t ease the nervous twitch. If anything, it made it worse as his pupils dilated, losing focus for moments before blinking his concentration back to the screen. He typed, deleted his words, typed again, tapped his pen on his temple, switched tabs and pulled up a report, highlighted words, attached them to the document before reaching for his coffee again, realising it was empty and sighing, He ran the top of his pen across his lips before snapping his attention back to the classroom and putting a small piece of gum in the corner of his mouth before his shoulders untensed and he flicked back to his email and typed a few coherent sentences before giving up and sliding his laptop back into his bag.

Katsuya held his retractable pencil between his own index and middle fingers for a moment, trying to figure it out before realising he was staring. Flipping his own attention back to his textbook he stole only glances back in the direction of his frazzled classmate while keeping incognito enough that the teacher wouldn’t call him out.

Grabbing something out of his bag at the end of class, he slipped Kaiba a scrawled note.

_Field behind the Plum Trees._

Katsuya hadn’t pondered on why he’d cared about his unusual behaviour so much to invite Kaiba out for a little one-on-one time, but sometime in the last two months, Kaiba had been consistently unsettled by third period and extremely irritable by fifth. Even Katsuya had given up on winding him up for kicks which is how he knew the situation was dire. Kaiba had snapped erratically one Thursday during the week of a huge gaming launch before taking a week off school, and Katsuya knew not if he was the catalyst or just in the warpath at the time but he sure wasn’t willing to find out.

He guessed the reason he cared so much was because Mokuba had made comments in private, not even to Yugi or Honda, about how he felt like his older brother was going crazy under the pressure of KaibaCorp. “You get it, right? A younger sibling is allowed to worry.” Though Mokuba couldn’t pinpoint any behaviours that were out of character besides having a shorter fuse and spending a few more hours than usual in his uptown office, a brother’s instinct wasn’t to be ignored. It wasn’t unusual for Kaiba to get home at 3am every so often, but it’d been weeks on end, Mokuba had eventually confessed.

“We’re all watching over him, even though he would murder us if he knew,” Jou confessed which seemed to put Mokuba at momentary ease.

He wasn’t even sure that Kaiba wouldn’t shank him and drag his body behind the auditorium, but the cool spring breeze knocked him away from the dark thoughts. The Plum blossoms were almost over, tiptoeing into the beginning of Sakura season. Jou sank into the damp grass and leaned against the biggest tree hidden out of view, kicking his shoes off and closing his eyes. Nobody could be mad when the wind was warm, the petals were pink, and his second-to-last year at school was finally, finally coming to an end.

“What do you want?”

He gestured to sit down, and Kaiba, furrowing his brow, obliged, leaning against the tree.

“Want a cigarette?”

Kaiba shook his head. “You think _I’m_ a dirty smoker like _you_?”

“I do.” Jou said cockily, picking one out of the packet and pushing it towards him. “We all have our vices. I made a promise to your brother that I’d look after you.”

“So, filling my lungs with tar is looking after me?”

“A cigarette takes seven minutes off your life, sure, sure. But I think it saves a few compared to your stress.” Jou raised his eyebrow. “I can tell a smoker’s jitter. When did you start?”

Kaiba muttered something inaudibly, but chose to accept the offer, cupping the end of the cigarette to light it. The sigh of breath that took over Kaiba’s chest, and the flutter of his eyelashes as he took two moments for himself left Jou breathless.

Ethereal.

It was almost, almost, like Seto Kaiba was human. Katsuya was fascinated and swore to take this moment to his grave.

And all the infrequent subsequent ones.

Not one word. He knew _nothing._

 

 

-

 

 

_October. 25._

 

Seto Kaiba was a stickler for routines. Alarm at five. Light Breakfast and first coffee at five-thirty. Office by six-fifteen. Overnight urgent emails read and returned by eight. First conference call at eight-thirty which went no later than ten. A brisk walk to the coffee shop between ten-fifteen and ten-forty to clear his head and get his only sunlight for the day. Technical work between eleven and four. Any other conference calls and meetings held between four and eight as necessary and location dependent on the other party, fitting one personal training session around them. Back to work until eight-thirty. Six days a week. One day for rest. All his ducks in a neat row and no need for a diary or incessant calls about his whereabouts.

He never thought Jounouchi and him would share that commonality of routine. But diligently, Jounouchi would be at that coffee shop on Thursday mornings making flash cards, catching up on readings, or working on assignments.

Kaiba didn’t like to admit that Jou being inserted back into his life just as he was starting to get a little stir-crazy had shaken him. Life was predictable and easier without him, well, it had been. And life would likely be unpredictable with him stomping around the same neighbourhoods again, but they were magnetic and something kept Seto engaging in those small conversations. There was something enigmatic about finding someone who wasn’t afraid of Kaiba’s status, who could read his moods, who could parry off him like they’d never been apart at all. Jou had spent time genuinely asking Kaiba about what he’d been up to, how Mokuba was, but had been gracious enough to tear him down during some heated quips on a bad day that Kaiba was resigned to buying coffee from the same place as his “mere mortal self.”

Kaiba was the most surprised when, in those three months of Thursday morning five-minute-meetings in the coffee shop three blocks from KaibaCorp (under the guise of giving cocky advice over Jou’s semester homework) he stiffly asked Jounouchi on a date. On his way out, and his body weight shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other and fingernails tapping on his mug, he cleared his throat and mumbled “would you care to accompany me for some drinks tomorrow night?”

“What’s the occasion?” Katsuya asked, drawing a Red-Eyes caricature in the front cover of his notebook absently, not quite catching Kaiba’s eyes as he felt a blush forming on his nose.

“My birthday.”

Jou shrugged, with nothing planned on a Friday night as usual. “Sure. Text me the details.” He motioned for Kaiba to pass over his phone, typing in his number into the phonebook. Kaiba had quickly taken off after the conversation but had taken almost a whole afternoon to contemplate how to make the invite over text seem natural and not like he’d spent two hours writing out messages and deleting them again, and again, and again. Not at all. This was just a friendly meetup. Nothing conspicuous. They had a history of being in each other’s business and it was only natural that their paths had converged.

Which is how Jou found himself at a rooftop bar in the centre of town, fifteen minutes’ walk from his apartment at nine o’clock dressed in dark skinny jeans and a button down top with a light coat in forest green. With cocktails at absurd prices, Jou rolled his eyes as he looked at the specials board and settled in with just a water into a corner seat overlooking the cityscape towards the dock with a peach sunset kissing the rippling water.

“What are you drinking?” the gritty voice tickled his cheek.

“Nothing at these prices,” Jou huffed, but smiled once he locked eyes.

“You don’t think I can afford to pay?” Kaiba smirked. He looked stunning, Katsuya’s crush ignited again as the dying sunlight hit Seto’s cheekbones. He looked so _normal_ with his jacket slung over his shoulder, wearing a light long-sleeved black shirt and black leather pants with his tie slack around his neck.

“It’s your birthday, but if you’re feeling flush, I’ll just have what you’re having.”

“Sure.” Seto dashed off for a moment before returning with two identical passionfruit margaritas. Jou raised his eyebrow before he defended himself. “They’re really good.”

“I’m not judging!” Katsuya grabbed the drink out of his hand. “Just picked you to be a straight liquor kind of guy.”

“Depends on who I’m drinking with and what the occasion is.”

Jou wrapped his fingers around the glass, holding it up. “Well, cheers to you.” Their glasses clinked before Kaiba settled into his seat, taking a moment to take in the Autumnal cityscape before turning back to Jou, who was watching him intently. The bar was ambient with light classical music playing lightly and a few small groups of obviously well-off businesspeople after work laughing between themselves and pouring bottles of chardonnay.

“It’s weird watching the city change.” Seto finally replied after his introspection. “The buildings get higher. The people we know leave.”

“Tell me about it,” Jou agreed. “The only person who’s here, sometimes, is Shizuka in summer. When she’s not busy writing her thesis. She’s so grown up now. How’s Mokuba? I bet he’s a dashing young man now!”

“Dashing, yes. Conniving, also yes. A new lover every night. Frequent trips out of Japan, I’m never sure if they’re business or pleasure.”

“As long as the work gets done I guess there’s no harm.”

Seto shrugged and raised his glass to his lips. “I suppose not. He’s stayed relatively scandal free considering.”

“So have you.”

“Nothing to write a scandal about. I keep my books clean and my PR cleaner.”

Katsuya winked as he drunk the margarita. “What’ll they write about you tomorrow?”

Seto rolled his eyes. “I assume nothing. I think they’ve all but given up on monitoring my personal life. Besides, there’s only so many times I can commission a Blue-Eyes Jet or a kilometre-high building before they get sick of reporting on me.” Seto pushed himself back into his chair. “But what else do you expect a teenager to do with a billion dollars and no freedom at all.”

“I’m surprised there’s nobody gracing your personal life?” Katsuya carefully broached, watching Seto’s expressions, but he turned away and gazed out at the lights for a while before sighing.

“I’m sure you would have heard about it otherwise.” He finished his drink and looked Katsuya in the eyes. “I’m getting another one. You want anything?”

Katsuya chugged the drink back, before handing him the glass. “I’m up for whatever.”

“You say that now, until I drink you under the table.”

“Is that a challenge?” Katsuya winked, gaze lingering after Seto as he took the glasses up to the bar, falling comfortably back into his familiarity of their untampered rivalry, screwing his nose up as Seto placed a tray of shots in front of him. “Game on?”

 

 

-

 

 

_August. 17._

 

Katsuya wasn’t sure what came first. Their small breaks together or his crush.

And when it had slipped out of Mokuba’s own mouth that Seto was gay when they were hanging upside down off the couch in Mokuba’s room playing Tekken, Katsuya felt blood rise to his cheeks that he couldn’t just blame on gravity.

“Don’t tell anyone!” Mokuba cupped his hand over his mouth when his brain had caught up. “He’d _kill_ me if he knew I knew in the first place!”

Katsuya held his index finger to his mouth and winked.

And when we went home that night he deliberated the thought that maybe his attraction to Kaiba - despite every spite filled interaction they’d had since Kaiba waltzed into the school and locked eyes and sneered – was different from the way he looked at his friends. He never lingered on glances at Honda as he walked away from the cafeteria, nor taken a second glance at Ryou.

He’d kept stock of their infrequent meetups like they were more precious than gold. Like if he acknowledged them it would mess everything up. Not that they had “anything” at all. He’d almost missed them over the school breaks, tempted to reach for his phone through the sticky heat of summer.

The thought consumed him for moments, days, weeks. He could indeed just be an exception, not the rule, couldn’t he? Except, when he really thought about it, Kaiba _wasn’t_ the only guy Katsuya had ever lingered a gaze on, just the most frequent. Okay. So Katsuya admitted he was possibly bisexual. That’s okay, not the worst thing to be.

He blurted it out to his friends without thinking.

“Straight people are boring,” he’d announced when Honda was discussing his gym bunny crush of the week. “It’s all the same two criteria for you! Big tits, ditzy personality.”

“Nothing wrong with some big tits! And who exactly are you pining over this week.” Honda raised one eyebrow before eating his rice ball. Anzu slapped his arm hard at the comment. “I seem to remember that you had a certain blonde-haired bombshell in your sights once upon a time. She’s the very definition of big tits and ditzy.”

“Ex-fucking-scuse you. Mai is not ditzy. We’ve all talked about this before, Mai and I are better off as friends. S’ a bit weird to be twenty dating a high schooler, no matter which way you spin it anyway!” Katsuya deflected. The group kept staring like he was meant to follow up with an explanation. “Well,” deciding to commit completely Katsuya continued, “he’s packed with ambition, and has delicious thighs.”

“Do tell us who!” Anzu squealed. Katsuya just tapped his nose, she huffed, displeased.

“Is this why you’ve been acting weird the last few weeks?” Honda asked.

“No more than usual,” Katsuya huffed. Honda rolled his eyes. “Believe me, if I could not have my eyes on a dude I’d be more than happy, but it is what it is!”

 

 

-

 

 

_October. 26._

 

Katsuya knew better than mixing liquors, he’d spent more than enough mornings after tournament victories and parties with his head next to the porcelain god. Like clockwork, he woke up the next morning with a pounding headache centred in his right temple. But, they’d had a great time and he wasn’t exactly going to say no when Seto was opening up like a book as they took every shot and by the fourth one he was melted into his seat, feeling like he never wanted the night to end.

It was almost like the last seven years of distance didn’t exist - every time they caught glances they’d impishly smile and continue reminiscing the group’s shenanigans over a bowl of curly fries, extra chilli. Between all that Egyptian “nonsense,” high school memories of the time Mokuba got suspended for pranking the teacher, or when Katsuya had assed over on the hurdles, or how their ‘friendly,’ or ‘not-friendly,’ competitiveness during track sent them both to the principal’s office when Katsuya had taunted Kaiba and they’d gotten into a wrestle on the trackside dirt and Katsuya had grabbed a handful of mud and smeared it through Seto’s hair and he’d looked incredibly hot frustrated and dishevelled with obscenities pouring from his supple lips. Well, Katsuya left that thought out of the conversation.

A favourite memory was when Katsuya had framed Honda for the cupcake prank at Mokuba’s birthday party, swapping out Seto’s filling for chilli powder when Mokuba wasn’t watching during setup. The pair had kept the cupcake aside until they had been dished up and had let Mokuba in on it afterwards who squealed with sugary delight as Seto stormed off to simmer down for half an hour.

“I goddamn knew that was you!” Seto had exclaimed, alcoholic flush over his cheeks. Katsuya poked his tongue out before taking a shot of gin.

Pushing his weight up onto his forearms, he scanned the room and noticed something out of place. A tie curled up on the armrest of his sofa.

Oh yeah, Katsuya hadn’t come home alone. But hey, he could cross one more thing off his bucket list.

Sometime after midnight they’d drunkenly stumbled back to his apartment, laughing like best friends with arms around each other’s shoulders for stability as the bar closed and left them in the autumn breeze. Nothing about it had been remotely out of the ordinary for who he’d been a few years back, minus who was coming back with him. Sure, he had a crush on Kaiba when he was younger, and he wasn’t about to let eighteen-year-old him down by acting shy (eighteen-year-old him would have _died_ and gone to heaven if he’d seen this version of the future!), but he’d never expected fate to shrug her shoulders when they opened the door to his two-bedroom downtown apartment.

Kaiba was merely coming back to crash in the spare room after they’d already walked halfway back to his, being too inebriated to drive and with a flat phone battery, before Katsuya had invited him along for another drink as the last shot of tequila had settled into his bloodstream.

“Welcome to my humble abode.” Katsuya joked as he threw his coat on the hooks by his door. “Sorry about the mess, wasn’t expecting company.”

“It’s hardly messy, Jounouchi.” Seto kicked off his shoes in the entrance and stepped into the kitchenette. “Don’t normally bring anyone home?”

Katsuya caught the entendre but deflected in case it’d been an accident. “Been a while since I’ve had guests. Bathroom’s to the right.”

“Whose is that room then?” Kaiba motioned over to the spare room with the door wide open. “The pink bedsheets yours?”

“Ooh, he’s interested in my bedsheets. You wanna slip between them?” Katsuya caught himself flirting through the alcohol and tried to catch his words as they fell from his lips with no avail. While poking his tongue out he grabbed out two plain glasses from his cupboard. “That’s Shizu-chan’s room when she stays over. I have a much demurer aesthetic.”

“Aesthetic?” Seto scoffed. “You sure it’s not just Red Eyes sheets?” he joked back, accepting the offering of whiskey. “Walls plastered with Duel Monsters posters?”

“Ooh, you’re really digging to find out, aren’t you?” Katsuya fired back.

“I know you’ve been dreaming of this.” Kaiba leaned into the kitchen counter and loosened his tie. “You just couldn’t get enough of me back then.” He bit his pinkie and winked like he knew exactly what he was doing. Katsuya still wasn’t sure what had gotten into Seto, but he wasn’t about to question it. He felt the puzzle pieces falling into place.

“Cocky. Predictable. How about I take that shirt off and show you what I can do with this tongue.”

Seto pushed the glass away from him and stood right in front of Katsuya. “Are you propositioning me?”

“Are you accepting it?” Katsuya raised one eyebrow as his heartbeats caught in his throat.

 

 

-

 

 

_March. 18._

 

Most of their secret meetings were filled with Katsuya’s babbling as Kaiba lay back on the tree trunk pretending to ignore him. Katsuya’s life spilled out of him filterless, from his strained relationship with his sister thanks to his mother, to his abysmal living situation with his father, even through a roadmap of his glory days in a gang while he struggled to survive through petty crime after his parent’s divorce and father’s alcoholism stripped his cupboards bare.

“I don’t know why you’re telling me any of this,” Kaiba had said once, “like you expect that I should care? We all have our tribulations, you’re not special.”

“You’re not a great talker, so I figured you’re a good listener. Feels good to get it off my chest, even to a prick like you.”

Kaiba rolled his eyes and leaned back into the tree, only lifting his fingers to his lips every so often. Only reacting softly to Katsuya’s stories about his sister and sympathising quietly over how much he missed her. Over time, he would interject about how he understood Katsuya’s feelings of wanting to protect her with his own want to protect Mokuba.

“I knew you had a heart in there,” he ribbed.

“It’s about this big,” Kaiba reacted, holding the butt of the cigarette between his thumb and middle finger. Katsuya laughed and sprawled out into the mess of Sakura petals on the fields, not wanting his Spring ‘romance’ to end. Though it had been more than an entire year since their first rendezvous and it was never meant to become a habit but Katsuya wasn’t going to be the one to push away.

Kaiba had started bringing his own cigarettes to share and had even initiated a code of sorts. Just a peace sign with his left hand. It didn’t happen often. Just often enough for Jounouchi to stay addicted but not enough that his friends were suspicious. If they’d signed into homeroom first thing in the morning, subsequent elective class absences weren’t always noticed.

“If I didn’t know you better I’d say you’re starting to warm up to me.”

Kaiba just lifted his middle finger and passed him the lighter and as a Sakura petal fell and landed on his cheek Katsuya knew it was maybe more than just a small crush.

 

 

-

 

 

_October. 26._

 

Katsuya didn’t know the protocol of messaging hook-ups at the best of times - it’d been a _long_ time. And he especially didn’t know how to handle it when that someone was Kaiba and he wasn’t sure where they stood now. It’s not like Kaiba wasn’t into it, he’d never have asked Katsuya to drinks in the first place if he’d been ambivalent. Especially after their complicated past. It’s not like Katsuya had left their relationship at eighteen without admitting that he’d felt something towards Kaiba.

Apart from a haphazardly discarded tie and a second glass on the counter there was almost no sign that Katsuya had been dishevelled. Snaking the tie around his fingers he contemplated their entire timeline and reminisced on the moments where their rivalry had frayed, and they’d found themselves in a muddy puddle of companionship. Just like he did every moment he was abroad before convincing himself that distance from the city that made him could just as easily break him.

On Tuesday, Katsuya decided to return to his routine without stressing too much longer. Kaiba was an adult too, he’d been the one to invite him out after all. Plus, Kaiba held all the cards, and Katsuya didn’t want to make himself a target if sober Kaiba decided he’d regretted it all. Kaiba could be the one to call.

Or turn up at the coffee shop, at 10:30am on Thursday, and pull up a chair.

“Greetings,” Katsuya bit his lip as he twirled his earphones in his fingers, making a cat’s cradle from the fluorescent green cord. Hopped up on caffeine his eye contact darted around, never really settling on Kaiba for more than a moment afraid that he’d advertise to all the patrons what had gone down last weekend, though he was sure it was showing on his cheeks anyway.

“Hi.” Kaiba played awkwardly with his Blue-Eyes travel mug. “How’s the homework?” Kaiba looked down at the scrawls, noticing that hardly anything had been attempted, with eraser shards littering the desk around him. “Having trouble?”

“I’ve uh,” Katsuya bit his lip. “Been a little distracted this week.”

“Oh.”

“It’s…ah…I’ve got a meeting with my lecturer soon. I better jet. Sorry!” Katsuya shuffled his papers together awkwardly, with Seto just watching him flustered, sure he was the reason for the uneasiness after all. Katsuya never lost his cool – well, that was a complete lie. He used to be a ticking time bomb of passion, but he never got flustered over something trivial like attraction.

“Okay.”

“Hey, uh, you, uh. If you want your tie back, you’ve got my number.” Katsuya mumbled before running out, leaving his hoodie draped over the back of the chair. Seto grabbed it and went to follow Katsuya before realising he was still agile, and Seto was well out of track practise from his school days.

Seto took a sip of his coffee, gripping the hoodie tight in his fist. He knew what he was getting himself into as his mind replayed every minute detail of Friday night, recounted every shot, every flirt, every button that had been undone and shirts that had been cast aside. For a moment he contemplated letting Katsuya disappear again, but he was certainly enjoying having a simple distraction from work, work, work.

 

 

-

 

 

_April. 18._

 

Jounouchi was the kid that nobody bothered to card, with his American features strong enough to intimidate even the surliest of convenience store staff. Flashing a smile and speaking in fluent Japanese with an underlying dialect, Katsuya would bring up the same cans of beer and whiskey, a bottle of sake tucked away on the bottom shelf, and he would look at the board above the cashier and ask for a “number 461.” Tallying up silently, the cashier would only side-eye him as he handed over a wrinkled pile of notes from the friends chipping in, pointedly placing the carton of cigarettes on top as if to say “I know what you’re up to.”

“Cheers!” Jou would beam, sliding those in his jacket pocket before legging it down the street to Otogi’s house. The minute his Dungeon Dice Monsters had taken off, he’d moved out of home and would host parties during weekends where he wasn’t touring the country. Jou had spent the last few months of senior year watching Honda and Otogi get closer, almost leaving Jou by the wayside unless they needed something. Not that he really minded. It was a lot to keep up with on top of his usual friendship group and his time with his friends had already waned as they’d begun to cram for National Centre Tests, whereas Jou had spent his time working part-time during the week, ultimately deciding that entering University wasn’t for him.

“My man!” Otogi beamed, as Jou barely had even knocked on the door, the subtle clink of aluminium on his doorframe signalling the beginning of a night that would end up being the catalyst of friends dropping off his radar. Swinging an arm around his shoulders and dragging him into the newly renovated kitchen, Jou pushed his plastic bag of drinks upon Anzu who already had the refrigerator open, stacking Otogi’s fridge neatly to fit more food and drinks.

“You’ll never fuckin’ guess what he’s gone and done!” Honda beamed, toothy grin as he pulled a bunch of cushions out from the cupboards and placed them around a wooden table with Industrial Illusions characters etched into the legs.

“Oh, you say it like it’s important!” Otogi smacked Honda on the shoulders.

“He’s only fuckin’ managed to get Kaiba to come.”

“You whaaa…!”

“All’s fair in love and war, and business!” Otogi grabbed some sake cups and placed them in the centre of the table, while Anzu brought out some sliced carrots and hummus. Honda grabbed one, snapping it between his teeth with a wink as she scowled.

Jou shook his head in disbelief. “How did you manage that?”

“I made a bet with the younger one that if I bet him in a game of Dungeon Dice at the last convention, he’d have to make Sir Kaiba come to our end of school breakup.”

“Beatin’ a thirteen-year-old at your own dice game isn’t exactly playin’ by the book, but sure!” Jou shook himself free of Otogi’s grasp and headed to the kitchen to pop open his first can of beer. A doorbell grabbed his attention and Yugi bounced into the room, smile lightening the mood.

It only took an hour of drinking between snacks for the first lightweight of the room to tap out of the drinking, and that was Ryou. Hardly saying anything, occupying his moments with quaint sips on his sake glass, he was loosely grinning in the corner, running his fingertips through his hair absently. Anzu swapped his glass with water when he wasn’t paying attention, and he drank it without protest.

“Ya still thinkin’ Moneybags will turn up?” Jou asked, grabbing his third drink from the fridge. He’d also had a few sake shots but could, at least in his opinion, hold his liquor and pace himself when it got rough.

“Trust me,” Otogi smiled, and Katsuya motioned that he was going to dip outside for a moment with his drink.

Lighting up his cigarette and leaning against the railing on the third storey, he caught sight of the limousine pull up. Donning his regular coat, Kaiba looked around, and then up before spotting Jou’s body leaning on the rail, taking a drag in, exhaling, taking a drink of cheap beer. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Kaiba only broke his stare between flights of stairs until he was standing face-to-face with him, eyes following the cherry glow.

“So, they weren’t lyin,’” he laughed, flicking the cigarette between his fingers and letting the ash scatter into the breeze. There was something so jarring about his cheekbones bathing in the streetlights marred with smoke exhaling slowly.

Kaiba merely raised an eyebrow but continued to watch until the end fizzled out. Jou pushed himself away from the railing and pushed open the door. “Guess what I found skulking around outside!”

“Oh hey, you made it!” Otogi grabbed Kaiba’s shoulders, Jou noticing him recoil and slide away before settling himself down in front of the table on a spare cushion. Nodding a greeting at the rest of the gang, he stayed abnormally quiet, taking in the atmosphere of the half-drunk crew, laughing and singing along to tunes from a stereo in the corner. A sake glass appeared in front of Seto and was filled while he was distracted by little things catching his eye, like a painting on the wall, or some lights from underneath the TV glowing.

“Glad you could come,” Jou muttered, leaning in for a moment before plopping down with a new can in his hand. Something a little stronger than beer. The effervescence audible before he took a sip, bubbles dancing on his lips. Kaiba noticed that too. And in a moment again, Jou was swept back into the antics of the group, singing along to some Western music that he’d introduced Honda to a few summers ago.

Kaiba noticed the Sake cup. White and gold, with a dice design in the bottom. He’d only but sighed at the tackiness that Otogi would have his own custom drinkware. Just a few hours here would surely begin to feel like a lifetime if he didn’t indulge, with his mind flittering between the group who were now dancing, Anzu and Yugi leaning on the kitchen counter talking, the chime of a clock. And then his cup was empty. And full again. And empty again. Like clockwork. Fingers tapping on the table.

“Yo,” Jou murmured, sitting down beside him and filling up his own sake cup. “You ‘aight?”

“I’m fine.”

“You’ve hardly said two words.”

Kaiba shrugged.

“Want a…” Jou motioned with his index and middle finger to his lips.

Again, Kaiba shrugged, but followed Jou to the door and out to the walkway between the apartments.

“Why do you care?” Kaiba asked finally, holding the thin cigarette between his fingers.

“I don’t know. Just do.” Jou leaned back on the railing and watched Kaiba’s face. “Say what you want about us, Rich Boy, but I think I get where you’re comin’ from.”

“Hn?”

“There’s a lot ridin’ on you to be perfect. You didn’ have a lot of time to just chill, make friends. Get to know people who just want to know you for you.”

Kaiba’s eyes looked right through Jou’s before focussing. “And what is so appealing that you want to get to know me?”

Jou shrugged. “We always want what we can’t have, right?”

The smoke caught in Kaiba’s lungs and he coughed.

“If I didn’t know you better, I would have asked if this was your first time.” Jou and Kaiba locked eyes for three seconds.

“..and if I didn’t know you better, I’d ask if you were a cocky prick full-time,” Kaiba recovered, breaking the gaze.

The party had swung into the second phase, with a wave of energy picking the others up and sweeping them into table top card games, unlike the ones they were most versed in. Someone had, presumably Otogi, pulled out a “never have I ever” style of game where they had to drink for the things they had done as the cards flipped up.

“Never have I ever done an illegal drug.” Honda read out, and Otogi took a sip. The group stared at him and he shrugged like there wasn’t a care in the world.

“Never have I ever hooked up with someone in this room.” Face bright red, Anzu and Yuugi took their drinks. Everyone knew that they had, but while their attention was focussed on the coupling, Ryou took another sip that only Jou caught by the corner of his eye.

Between rounds, Jou poured himself and Kaiba a drink without asking.

“Never have I ever,” Jou read out, realising the circle was on him. “cheated on a test.” Honda took a drink. “What?” he interjected. “It was at middle school!”

Kaiba cleared his throat, grabbing the next card. “Never have I ever stalked a crush online.” He looked around the room at everyone unabashedly taking a drink and took one for himself. Nobody commented but Otogi raised his eyebrows when he’d caught his eye.

The rounds kept pouring and people got drunker. Kaiba had hardly taken any sips, confirming what Jou had stored about him from a previous conversation. Still single, hardly a teenager. Jou just wanted him to learn to loosen up.

What felt like hours later, teens were drunk and lying on couches, or leaning on doorways in pairs, talking amongst themselves and laughing at the smallest of jokes. Even with alcohol pulsing through his fingertips, Jou could feel the disconnect between him and his ex-best friend, suddenly replaced. And there was no room beside Yugi as he snuggled in close to Anzu on the couch and inaudibly purred to her. Seto was still sitting on his knees, in front of a sake glass, staring deep into it like he was thinking.

“Wanna dip outside again?” Jou asked, and Seto merely followed, pulling the door quietly closed behind them. The pair didn’t talk as they had another cigarette and let their heads spin as they observed the lights moving through the highway in view of the edge of the walkway.

“Can I ask you something?” Jou finally whispered.

“Sure.”

“This is gonna be our last time seein’ each other, so I just wanna clear something up. Did you hate me?”

Seto’s gaze narrowed, focussing on the bridge of Jou’s nose. He shook his head just once.

“Then, can I…?” he caught himself before shrugging the words away and gazing over the balcony.

“You’ve never lost your ability to speak before.”

“…kiss you?” Jou waited with his eyes closed, holding his breath and feeling his heart beating in his ears.

“I suppose.”

 

 

-

 

 

_November. 26._

 

_Seto: Are you home tonight? – S_

_Katsuya: I can be._

_Seto: 9pm? I’ll drop by after I’m finished at the office._

_Katsuya: Sweet as._

 

Katsuya paced, cleaned, paced some more. He couldn’t figure out why he was so nervous when all Kaiba was coming over for was to pick up a tie. It wasn’t a big deal. Well, he had sort of deduced that Kaiba wouldn’t just come over for a tie, he probably had hundreds of them lining his closets. Okay, so Kaiba was coming over for a small talk? That’s fine. Friends talk. They were friends now, right? Right. Well, they certainly weren’t enemies or just fair-weather acquaintances. They hadn’t been for a long time and their reunion had served as a reminder that they hadn’t really left everything wrapped-up neatly at all despite Katsuya telling himself they’d left everything resolved.

He’d set up his table deliberately, with textbook open and half-written notes to make it look like Kaiba had just merely interrupted a casual night in.  He poured himself a cup of tea, he stared out his window for a while. He stewed in his memory of Seto Kaiba pulling off his belt and pushing him onto his bed and wrapping his fingers around their shafts and thrusting together drunkenly with a smoulder. He shifted in his seat as his stomach fluttered and willed away the thought.

So, somewhere under it all, Kaiba was attracted to him. Still (?) attracted to him? Did Kaiba fancy him back then too, or was it all the product of loneliness and Katsuya’s relentless efforts to befriend him like it was an achievement? He wondered how life would have been if they’d just followed through after high school. Katsuya was the one to leave Domino City and had never really reached out once he’d gotten back and the years had swallowed them both up. He’d also assumed it was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. You don’t get to kiss a guy like Kaiba twice. And it would never have worked out while they were younger. Katsuya had finally grown out of his short-fused impulsiveness, but it took moving overseas and realising that life doesn’t just give you what you want to knock some sense into him. Eighteen-year-old them would have been explosive and toxic.

It’s not like Kaiba didn’t have an abundance of ladies willing to whisk him onto the dancefloor, but as far as Jou knew, Kaiba was still tight-lipped on his sexuality. Who could blame him for not settling when you could never be sure that people were with him for his personality and not just his status. And if there wasn’t a reason to come out, the gossip wasn’t worth it.

Jou himself hadn’t really seen anyone seriously either. A few dates here and there, some women but mostly men. He was attracted to people at face value, but he’d kept craving for it to be a little more than skin deep and hadn’t stayed with anybody for longer than a month. His rise in popularity through duelling had meant he’d had a big field to play from a few years ago, but he just wasn’t interested in it all because most of them weren’t just interested in him for _him_.

_Knock. Knock. Knock._

Katsuya opened the door to a stiff Kaiba. “Hi.”

“Hi.”

“How are you?”

“Good, how are you?”

“Good.”

They stood in the doorway staring before Kaiba finally asked “are you going to let me in or what?”

“Oh, yes! Of course. Come in.”

Kaiba slid his shoes off and handed Katsuya his hoodie. “You left this.”

“Ohh, I was wondering where that was. Thanks!” Katsuya finally smiled and relaxed his shoulders. “I tried to tidy up this time.”

Kaiba looked around and noted everything was more orderly. Even the top of the TV had been dusted and the dishes put away. “Maybe I should visit every so often if it motivates you.”

Katsuya blushed.  “I mean, you’re ah, welcome over whenever I guess.”

Kaiba grabbed his own chair at the kitchen table. “I’ll cut straight to it. You were weird yesterday. What was up with that?”

“Me, weird? Ahaha, not at all!” Katsuya blushed, feeling embarrassed about being called out.

“Please, Jounouchi. If you want to go back to how we were when we were eighteen then sure, avoid talking. I’m certainly acknowledging my fair share of avoidance and I’m not exactly comfortable having to chase you now. Now it’s your turn. Are you going to meet me halfway?”

“Are you accepting that I tried, and you were just being stubborn?”

Kaiba pushed a packet of cigarettes towards Katsuya. “I’m promising to finally meet you halfway if you’ll give me the same respect. No more speaking in codes or dancing around issues. We’re adults now.”

“Only by technicalities,” Katsuya joked as he ripped the foil from the top of the packet and passed one over. “Just so you know, I don’t make a habit of this anymore.” He got up anyway and opened the door to his balcony, leaning out on the rail as he flicked his lighter.

“Neither do I,” Seto grabbed the lighter out of his hand. “But maybe it’ll be the ice-breaker we need to broach the conversations we’re too uncomfortable to have.”

“If you’re saying you’ve changed and you’re willing to talk to me properly, then of course I’ll reciprocate.” Katsuya watched the smoke coil from the cherry tip. “What are you wanting from me, from us? Are we like, friends now? Are we…?” he cut himself short.

“I’m not asking for anything in particular.” Seto exhaled and looked up at the stars beginning to peek out behind the autumn clouds. “I don’t want any labels or complicated arrangements.”

“Are we going to talk about what happened last weekend?”

“Well,” Seto inhaled, holding the smoke in his lungs for a moment. “I don’t regret it in any way and I wouldn’t be opposed to mutually satisfying our needs.”

“Like, a friends-with-benefits kinda thing?”

Seto shrugged. “If that suits you, then that’s an appropriate summary. I’m just asking for respect and communication. If you want to date, feel free.”

“Cool.” Katsuya faced away from Seto and looked out at the sky, glad the darkness could mask his blush as the next drag of his cigarette gave him a strong head spin.

 

 

-

 

 

_May. 18._

 

Katsuya reached into his pocket to grab another cigarette. Graduating High School should have absolved his stress, but ever since the party he’d been a different kind of strung-out. Like he was waiting on a false promise of a future he couldn’t get. Seto Kaiba was never going to be his partner in crime, just a mere summer quasi-romance and a bittersweet feeling of accomplishment for momentarily distracting him enough to get him through the toughest period of his life.

When reflecting on the past fourteen months of breaks and niceties, he was surprised at how much Seto had managed to open himself up. Maybe all the kid needed was some deep therapy. After all, he’d had to make so many tough decisions in such a short amount of time. What did they say, that the brain didn’t develop properly til twenty-five or some shit, right? Katsuya flicked his lighter and sucked in until his head felt a little dizzy. He couldn’t say that his gang days weren’t deeply rooted in his lack of fatherly role model and love, and a need to fulfil the most basic of needs – hunger. In not so many words Seto had admitted a lot of the same.

He felt guilty that after all that time working his way into Seto’s comfort zone he was just going to leave again, as if abandonment wasn’t a huge chip on Kaiba’s shoulder.

But still, he knew it wouldn’t be right to reach out anymore and he hoped Kaiba would just understand that it wasn’t a matter of wanting to leave him, he just wanted to leave _everything_. As his friends jetted off to their new lives, Katsuya had more spare time between working at the convenience store and coming home to an empty apartment than he knew what to do with. He wasn’t suicidal, but he wondered whose worlds would be better without him around.

Just like his was without his father around now.

It had only been weeks since his father had died after overdosing. Katsuya knew there was alcohol in his system, but he asked the nurses to leave it at that – the less he knew about what else he’d taken the better. And he’d been saddled with the sole responsibility of fending for himself and cleaning up the apartment because the landlord wanted possession back now that there wasn’t a legal adult in the building despite the squalor. Katsuya had asked for a four-week reprieve while he figured it out, tidied up the best he could. No possessions to get rid of, just a suitcase worth of basic mementoes, like his Duel Discs and small medals for bronze championships. He’d figured that it wouldn’t be until he was twenty before he’d move out of home and away to America, but life presented the perfect opportunity to close the chapter of teenagerhood since he was legally an adult overseas. The memories of his friends that had slowly but surely absorbed themselves into new lives. Daily texts turned into weekly. He wasn’t sure that his friends had even heard about his father’s passing. Only Shizuka had talked about it with him, grieving in her own way about losing the father she wished she’d had instead of the man they’d been given. But she was still fifteen and doing well at school, and Katsuya still had incredible disdain for his mother who had hardly welcomed him into her life. He didn’t think they’d ever see eye-to-eye.

Katsuya finished his last cigarette from the pack. Closing the chapter meant he’d have to give up the last habit tied to the only person he contemplated staying in Domino for, even if the logic behind staying was unfounded.

So, a selfie from his friends at Domino International Airport went out to all his friends at once. “I’ll see you all soon #AmericaBound :D”

 

 

-

 

 

_November. 26._

 

Kaiba sighed, noticing his Thursday schedule was full due to the Holiday release schedule that had crept up on him. It wasn’t a big deal, sure, but he still pondered over sending Jou a message anyway. Things had been going really well since they’d talked about where they stood and he didn’t want Jou getting the wrong idea that he was suddenly avoiding him.

He spent time drafting what he was going to say between a conference call, deciding a succinct message would do. If anybody else saw it, it could seem innocent enough.

_Seto: Caught up in meetings all day. If you have any questions about your homework send me a message though._

Kaiba shrugged as he put his phone back in his pocket and opened the next email. Drafts for the Spring release schedule. New Duel Monsters merchandise in collaboration with Industrial Illusions, a new Duel Disk, tournament details and Spring intakes at Duellist Academy.

_Katsuya: Ooh, are you committing to being my private tutor?_

Kaiba snorted as he read the message, putting his phone down while he logged into a conference call with his brother and the rest of his executive team. Mokuba was still away for another week and the Kaiba mansion, KaibaCorp, everything was so quiet and boring without him bouncing around like he used to. But Mokuba was incredibly well-spoken and driven. Other than sinking time in upcoming projects, which were almost all ahead of schedule for the first time in what felt like forever, Seto only had one other thing to sink time into.

Even things that would normally frustrate him in the meeting weren’t getting on his nerves so much. Inefficiency and incompetence were still inefficiency and incompetence, but a dewdrop of softness in his weeks had taken a bitter edge off him. Even Mokuba seemed to shift uncomfortably as he awaited Seto to barrage his marketing team for a rookie spelling mistake on a final version poster, but Seto merely snapped “re-do it, and retrain your spellcheckers.” No threats of firing a team or restructuring their department.

_Seto: Plans this week?_

_Katsuya: Free Friday night. Working Saturday and Sunday._

“Kaiba-Sama,” his brain snapped back to the call, where a development member was running through a general outline of their week that was. “I hate to ask, but may I request an extra week? These bugs are causing overheating, but we haven’t pinpointed where in the code we’ve made a mistake. I take full responsibility, sir.”

“Granted. If you could submit the code, I will have a look this afternoon. A set of fresh eyes always helps. Anything else?”

“That is all. Thank you, Kaiba-Sama.” The woman bowed on the video feed.

Seto’s phone pinged.

_Mokuba: You’re in a good mood. Where did *that* come from?_

_Seto: Don’t ask questions or I’ll fire you instead._

_Mokuba: Sorry to burst your bubble bro, but I’m the likeable one and you’d need to get a majority vote to kick me off the board. :P_

The meeting ended swiftly after, and as Seto sunk back into his leather seat he realised his shoulders weren’t as tense as normal. He was surprised he hadn’t gotten mad or frustrated at the delay and the only thing he could pinpoint that was different, as cliché as it was, is he was getting laid.

And, well, he wasn’t lonely anymore or spending his time with someone bitter and jaded. Katsuya Jounouchi was truly a breath of fresh air but still familiar enough that Seto felt momentarily youthful every time they’d see each other, and he reminisced in spare moments of the times Jou would drag him out of class to play hooky. Seto couldn’t admit to him how much those moments probably saved his life as he spiralled under the pressure of big business and the legacy of his wicked adoptive father.

That didn’t mean Seto Kaiba was getting soft, or that he was willing to let people walk all over him at work. After all, he was still _Seto fucking Kaiba_. But Mokuba had lectured him on lending small reprieves for genuine mistakes and errors, and it had increased productivity the few times he’d stepped back and heeded the advice. And indeed, the teams had been running smoother overall and staff retention was at an all-time high which meant less time wasted for retraining, and more time for Seto to spend on projects on the frontlines, which is what he _liked_.

Could it be that life, even for someone like himself, could find balance? He was marginally invested in seeing it all changing before him.

_Seto: Friday night, yours, 9pm? I’ll bring dinner and we can go through your essay before you submit it?_

_Katsuya: See you there! ^_~_

 

 

-

 

  
_January. 26._

 

Friday nights became a routine, much like Thursday mornings in the coffee shop when their schedules were both free. A tap on the shoulder, “same time tomorrow?” and every Friday a little after nine he would turn up with some takeaways from a restaurant on the short walk between work and Jou’s apartment. They kept all their rendezvous there for a while; it felt comfortable having a routine that didn’t send Seto straight home to an oversized house where the only noises when Mokuba wasn’t home was the hum from his backup servers and generators.

The nights usually started with dinner out of Styrofoam boxes and bowls (Katsuya had initially called Seto bougie for ordering something so common-class, and Seto’s reaction was to smush the container of noodles into Katsuya’s hair. Katsuya had sat there bewildered until they both ended up on the tiled kitchen floor in tears from laughing. _Laughing!_ ) and accompanying expensive Sakes and Gins that Seto had gifted him for his birthday, while they poured over his homework and assignments for college. Seto had been impressed that jargon he’d learned at work was spilling out of him fluidly, and he was consistently getting A’s with not much prompting. Katsuya had found Seto to be incredibly patient while teaching him about Macroeconomics, even coming prepared with small articles about how concepts were applied in the real world.

Despite their past, Seto was opening himself up to having deep conversations with Katsuya. They discussed their pasts in detail, from the things they’d glossed over as teenagers to things they’d never told a soul. Commiserated over dead-beat fathers, raising siblings, workplace whinges – Katsuya had shocked Seto with the blatant flouting of labour laws at his old job and Seto had countered with his own horrific stories that made his extreme reactions seem extremely justified - and even politics and dreams. Even when they agreed to disagree they debated like adults trying to broaden their view instead of resorting to personal blows – well, most of the time.

Sometimes the nights would spill into the small hours just talking on the couch between episodes of documentaries (Katsuya loved shows about home renovations or nature) where Seto would interject and elaborate on facts he knew about animals or places before Seto would resign himself to heading home as Katsuya would start to nod off with a smile on his face.

Other nights they’d turn on a movie and one of them would get a bit handsy, touching thighs, dancing fingers along the other’s belt. Katsuya couldn’t count how many movies he hadn’t seen the endings to, and most were because Seto would start it, hands pulling at his jeans button and unzipping the fly without taking his eyes off the screen until he got a physical reaction. For someone who had confessed they’d only slept with a woman “out of circumstance,” Following that confession, Katsuya wondered how much erotica Seto had spent his time with because he had a tongue that knew what to do. Katsuya was a world of firsts for Seto but he never faltered.

They never really made out on nights like these, but sometimes they’d make out if they got frisky before they got to dinner, and Katsuya would push Seto into his room and straddle him as he pulled his layers off. Katsuya had a collection of buttons and clasps from Seto’s clothing that he’d destroyed over the time that he kept proudly in his bedside table like badges from conquest. And they were. Seto’s moans were the sweetest thing and Katsuya was enamoured with them, only as he buried himself deep and hard until Seto would come over his bedsheets. And then they’d settle into a night of hanging out as the best friends they had strangely become, only acknowledging their circumstance with innuendos.

It was a strange arrangement, and the true definition of friends-with-benefits. Katsuya had almost found that his crush on Seto had disappeared but it wasn’t that he wasn’t satisfied. It was just like everything was meant to be free and uncomplicated and uniquely theirs. He’d read the term “platonic intimacy” somewhere and had realised it explained what was going on in his head to a tee: Katsuya hadn’t “fallen in love” like he worried he would have when he was younger, nor was he dwelling on the crush that had built up (or rather, reignited) during their first coffee meetups but he was happy and comfortable. They were incredible friends, and he didn’t honestly mind staying like this, whatever ‘this’ was, for a while, even if it was just until the snow melted on the sidewalks and the Sakura blossomed again.

 

 

-  


 

_July. 26._

 

Katsuya would have been the last person to admit that sinking his extra time in the summer back into work was almost disappointing. It meant their routine had been shaken and he’d miss their sarcastic five-minute conversations in the coffee shops on Thursdays. What it did mean though after a brief non-conversation the week before exams, was Saturdays became their new routine as Katsuya’s work schedule changed, from early-evening when Katsuya would finish up at the KaibaCorp retail store and Seto would finish at the office around six, until Sunday morning, where he’d need to head home and get his housework done for the week.

Seto didn’t mind the change in scenery because they still fell into a rhythm fast, though different. Katsuya brought a comfort of filling his house with home-made dinners which made the Kaiba Mansion feel almost liveable. On Monday mornings he’d still notice little things out of place or drawings on post-it notes beside his work keys with stupid jokes that Seto couldn’t help but smile at.

Seto had offered to cook a few times and Katsuya had pissed himself laughing on the floor swearing that he’d be investigated for an insurance job if he tried after watching him slice carrots unevenly. Sometimes when Seto wasn’t paying attention, Katsuya would sneak around behind him and shove ice cubes down his top and run upstairs as fast as he could while Seto could chase him cursing. In exchange, Seto would get him back with craftier pranks like when he snuck into Katsuya’s apartment when he was at work and set twenty-something stopwatches with various alarms up under his mattress, in his cupboards, and between the cracks of his refrigerator and wall causing Katsuya to ring him at six-thirty on Monday morning with colourful swears.

Katsuya swore he’d get him back great next April Fools and Seto said he’d hire extra security and a private investigator.

“Have you told the others about us?”

Katsuya looked up from stirring the pasta on the stove top inset on Seto’s kitchen island. He cocked his head to the left and bit his lip before shaking his head.

“Why not?”

Katsuya shrugged, putting a pinch of salt in the pasta. “Because it’s never come up.” He turned the dial down on the pasta and stirred the tomato paste into the minced beef in the skillet. While it began to bubble he drained the pasta in a colander. Seto was staring at him intensely. “What am I meant to tell them?” he asked, cutting through the gaze. “Mortal enemies become friends in a twist of fate. Tune in next week to find out what mundane domesticated shit they do before cracking into a bottle of gin. I hardly talk to them anymore, you know that! There’s a reason I latched onto you. Hopelessly lonely in the bright lights of Seto Kaiba’s Domino City.” He swooned as he flicked his spoon in the air, a drop of sauce dripping down the handle and onto his fingers which he licked off quickly.

Seto snorted, getting up out of his seat and shuffling into the lounge to crack open one of his liquor cabinets. “I guess I’m just…”

“I’m not gonna leave you for anyone else!” Katsuya joked into the empty room. “Too much effort. What about you? Told Mokuba you’ve ironically become best friends with me?”

“’Best friends’ is a bit high school.” Seto grabbed two glasses from the cabinetry, settling down in front of Katsuya’s served up pasta dish, cracking open the bottle. “No, it’s not come up, and it’s not likely to unless I bring you up.” Mokuba was still almost never home, and the brief times he was Seto opted to spend that time with him, or with Katsuya in his own small apartment. He was sure Mokuba just thought he was spending more time at the offices with his workaholic reputation, and omitting details wasn’t exactly lying.

“Ooh, a secret special friend. How would he react!?” Katsuya ribbed. “This is worse than an American sitcom.”

Seto just flipped him the bird and Katsuya giggled as he threw the dishes in the sink and settled in to eat, clinking his own glass with Seto’s. “Cheers to us!” Katsuya held his glass up. “It’s been six months and I’m still miraculously alive!”

“I could change all of that with a click of my fingers,” Seto grumbled as he clinked his glass, but he cracked a genuine smile as he took a bite of the pasta.

 

 

-

 

 

_December. 19._

_Katsuya brushed his hair out of his eyes as he cleaned mugs at the Brooklyn twenty-four-hour cafe. The frazzled nursing students fresh from their 2am cram session dripped in, faces pitted from obvious insomnia, hardly forming sentences as they asked for triple shot coffees. Katsuya nodded and made idle chatter with the ones that seemed interested as he wiped his hands clean on the dishcloth and started up the barista machine._

_“Did you hear,” a Seattle-accented girl with a nose ring that Katsuya had found out was named Ruby over her relentless coffee addicted nights, “that they’re calling for international contestants for the next Domino City tournament.”_

_“Really?” Katsuya asked, grabbing out the almond milk before she’d had a chance to vocalise her order. “Not enough duellists this year enrolled, huh?” He winked as he took her $5 note, giving her change back and stamping her card. “Next one’s free doll.”_

_“I wonder if they’re missing you,” she teased, watching him work his magic behind the machine. He faltered for a second before mixing the milk slowly and adding two dark-chocolate-covered strawberries to the saucer. She thrust her phone towards him, and he reached his finger out and scrolled. A predictable picture of Seto Kaiba in a power pose head noted the article, hands on hips and belts strapped around his biceps._

_“Ah, to miss me they’d have to have taken me seriously,” he waved off after the pause, and she winked before bouncing to her seat, blue-tipped hair sweeping her cheeks._

_Katsuya shelfed the thought as he got the store ready for the early-morning customers heading to first-shift and greeted the head baker as she came in to make the donuts the store was best known for. Cinnamon and vanilla mixed with the coffee and Katsuya was struck with uncanny nostalgia for those moments under the plum trees._

_He was missing home. It had become an undeniable thorn in his side whenever he heard Japanese spoken in the Subway, in the café, on the streets. He yearned to speak in his native language. He’d never really made friends in New York despite dating a little for the first few months – nothing of which had turned out to be anything worthwhile. He stuck out for not being from New York and being so obviously half-Japanese in the sea of Westerners, only a pinch less than he stuck out for being half-American in Japan._

_Twisting his keys around his fingers, with anxiety in the pit of his stomach, he hurriedly scrawled a note to his manager._

_‘I regret to inform you that my last day is December 30 th. I have enjoyed working here but Japan calls.’_

 

 

-  


 

_September. 26._

 

Tutoring sessions had continued into Katsuya’s second year at his community college. Working tirelessly on assignments between working at KaibaCorp had meant he’d cut his degree down to three years part time from four. They’d partially reverted to their original routine of Friday nights which nearly always spilled now into Saturday mornings before Katsuya would drag himself to work, but sometimes without asking, they’d reconvene on Saturday nights, splitting time over both homes depending on whether Seto was working from home or the office. Textbooks open, bottles cracked open beside empty store-bought burger wrappers. Katsuya scrawled notes all over a draft assignment, editing parts that didn’t flow once Seto read them aloud with his smooth baritone voice. After their third drink they resigned themselves to their lack of concentration as Katsuya’s handwriting became silly squiggles in the margins of his printouts.

“What’s new this week with you?” Seto asked as he leaned on Katsuya’s balcony on his fourth drink, a cigarette dangling in his hand. The dying sunlight dragging them slowly into the depths of a radiant autumn. Katsuya had pushed himself up against the rail with a Hi-ball in one hand and a lit cigarette in the other. The habit that he’d kicked when he’d boarded that plane to America was only a weekly habit now, but it still brought up those nostalgic, fantastical feelings of lying under the cherry blossoms, rambling at Seto as he tried to read his books in disdain.

“Well, for the first time in fucking _years_ , I got asked out on a real date.” Katsuya laughed.

“Oh?”

“Jealous?” he fired back with a sloppy smirk to which Seto rolled his eyes and scoffed.

“Not at all. But do tell.”

“I had the date on Wednesday night,” Katsuya admitted as he leaned on his balcony rail. “Thirty-five, recently divorced. Stubble to die for.”

“And?” Seto vied for more information as he watched Katsuya’s body language intently. He _wasn’t_ jealous, they weren’t exclusive, and he knew it was bound to happen sometime since neither had asked for so much. He was almost thankful that Katsuya was so open with the information.

“I mean,” Katsuya blew the smoke out of his mouth, “he was cute, but I just didn’t feel anything past a skin-deep friendship.”

“You didn’t fuck him?”

Katsuya shook his head. “Seto, I didn’t even kiss him. I wanted to see what it’d be like, but I just couldn’t. I’m starting to feel like the longer I leave it the harder it’s getting. Uh, excuse my choice of words.” He was thankful the night was dark enough to cover his blush. “Kaib’ it’s been like, three years or somethin’ since I last hooked up with anybody.”

“Am I nobody?”

Katsuya laughed. “You know what I mean. You’re that drug that I just don’t want to quit, okay? I like what we have too much.” The cherry red tip burned to the filter and fizzled out, and Katsuya reached for another cigarette to fill the gap. “When I was younger I hoped that this bisexual thing was a phase and that I could end up making that perfect life with some chick, so I wouldn’t ever need to justify to all the people who think guys kissing guys is somethin’ to be ashamed of…don’t get me wrong, I’m attracted to girls but I’ve always found better connections with guys. Case in point.” He gestured at Seto.

“For somebody who talks about lady luck…”

“…she really fucked me over aye. My father overdosed the night he found out I’d made out with a guy from work. Called me a fuckin’ faggot and all that bullshit. Life hasn’t gotten worse from there, but it hasn’t gotten much better either. Only get to see Shizuka now that she’s an adult. Still haven’t won a duel against you.”

“You haven’t tried in a long time.”

“I can’t be bothered, Set. I don’t want to ruin what we have by igniting our competitive streak.”

“But we’re adults now.”

“Hardly.”

Seto exhaled. “I don’t mind if we start playing again. I think even you’ll admit that I’ve chilled the fuck out.”

“Only when it doesn’t mean anything and nobody else is watchin’ but sure. Let me get my deck out again sometime and we’ll do it. But I’m not doin’ it for bragging rights.”

“Sure.” They walked inside, and Katsuya reclined in a chair in his lounge, thrusting his empty glass towards Seto who filled the glass with another Vodka, popping two ice cubes on top.

“How about you? Kissin’ cute boys in your office?”

Seto merely just laughed dryly.

“Nothing ever changes with us.” Katsuya sipped slowly on the vodka “Ya know, it’s almost like I have everything I need here with you. Companionship, sex, whatever.”

“You want to…?” Seto motioned with his head towards his bedroom.

“Sure, once I’m finished this.” Katsuya downed the glass and Seto watched his lips turn upwards as he closed his eyes with the bubbles from the soda tickling his lips. Katsuya was attractive, and even more so now that he had grown into his body in his twenties. Faint laughter lines around his honey eyes that still burned with wit and passion. It was an easy setup for Seto, without the complication of dating in the limelight he got to indulge in both physical and emotional relationships without the hang-ups and fuss. He figured he could stay used to this for as long as neither of them wanted to seriously pursue another monogamous relationship. But he wasn’t sure what he’d do if Katsuya started dating either. He crossed his fingers behind his back as he dipped into the bathroom to empty his bladder before sex, on that fleeting thought.

 

 

-  


 

_May. 27._

 

Slowly over longer holidays, Katsuya became a fixture in the Kaiba mansion over coming and going almost every other day out of pure convenience. Seto couldn’t pull himself away from work for too long despite Golden Week shutting the entire business down otherwise. Katsuya had recalled the last Golden Week together, or rather, not at all as Seto had been abroad, taking the forced time away from office to fix issues in person. “The American’s don’t give a shit that it’s a national holiday,” Seto grumbled as he stabbed the steak Katsuya had cooked with a knife.

“It’s already dead!” Katsuya had quipped back, frowning as he settled in with his own plate of food and a trail of dishes left to be cleaned.

It’s not like they were keeping their friendship secret either, after all it was creeping up on their second year of scheduled friendships and fucks, but their personal lives had never bled over into their other circles. Katsuya had never found a reason to mention it over brief, inconsistent calls and messages with Yuugi or Honda because they spent time talking about duels, study, and work, or their love lives instead. Seto had never brought it up to Mokuba because Mokuba was still gone more often than he was in Domino and when he was home he often spent time in an apartment downtown. Mokuba had also never bothered to ask. Seto was guilty of never volunteering the information either though, because it was innocuous and perhaps embarrassing to explain how they went from what everyone assumed at school to be relentless bullying to pals.

He could only imagine Mokuba’s mocking “ _I knew it_.”

Seto found Katsuya in the lounge jamming video games he could only wish to own himself. “Seriously, why aren’t we just hanging out here? Your house is _way_ more interesting than mine. Wanna match? I’ll whip your ass!” Katsuya threw a second controller at Seto who settled in beside him, picking to customise his character.

“Because you’re a sore loser who can’t beat me in a duel, let alone in a game,” Seto blew his fringe out of his eyes with a smirk on his face. “I’ll give you one game and then I need to get back to work.”

“Noooo,” Katsuya pouted. “Stay a while! Make them wait for you.”

“Just one more hour until the American’s finish work and then I’ll be yours.”

“Fine.” Katsuya furrowed his brows and leaned forward, mashed buttons, whereas Seto tapped his softly with his legs crossed on the couch. “See, I told you I could win!”

“Beginners luck,” Seto shrugged, dropping the controller on the couch. “What are you making for dinner?”

“Just a Yakisoba. Cheap and easy like me.”

Seto snorted as he glided back upstairs to his office to get the last few tasks wrapped up. Katsuya played a few more rounds on single player before shuffling into the kitchen to prepare dinner. He’d recently started offering to make dinner on Friday nights instead of just takeout and Seto had cautiously accepted, resigning himself to throwing a compliment in Katsuya’s direction when it didn’t give him food poisoning. He had to admit though, Katsuya had a natural skill for the kitchen, haphazardly throwing ingredients together like a happy science experiment.

Katsuya chopped the onions and cabbage finely after choosing a playlist to Bluetooth to a little radio on the windowsill. He danced around the kitchen in his socks, dropping cabbage shards on the ground as he added handfuls to the pan to fry. He sang along with the music as he stirred the noodles in and tidied up around him, leaving the kitchen almost immaculate but there was still an air of it finally being lived-in.

“Looks good,” Seto said, settling into the kitchen counter with a bottle of sake in his hands. “Would you like any?”

“Just a bit.”

Just a bit turned into just a lot, and Katsuya abandoned any plans of getting himself home on his bike as they slurred words and rambled into the night. Katsuya drunkenly challenged Seto to a duel but Seto pointed out he didn’t have a deck on him, nor were they able to compete for anything other than ego when they weren’t sober and Katsuya howled at Seto’s adamance to stay within official Duel Monsters rules.

“Well, what else do you want t’ do?” Katsuya asked, slouched over the counter.

“I can show you what these hands can do.”

Katsuya bit his lip, enticing Seto to play, fingers reaching across to Seto’s buttons and pulling them open slowly. “God, Seto, y’still drive me crazy.” Tracing his fingers down his chest and stomach until he grabbed Seto’s belt clasp and clicked it open. “Who would’a thought we wouldn’t get bored with each other.”

Seto sighed with sake-flushed cheeks. “Well, why don’t we take this somewhere more comfortable and I’ll happily reciprocate.”

 

 

-  


 

_July. 27._

 

And with a click of his fingers it was July again, and Katsuya’s hair was becoming platinum blond from the sunshine as he spent afternoons studying outside on his small balcony. In the last year of his degree and passing with flying colours, he reminisced on his time in America, where he’d felt like he was going to amount to nothing more than just blue-collar work if he even lived that long. He remembered when he rang Yugi to tell him that he’d been accepted despite not having passed his Centre Tests at high school and Yugi being pleasantly surprised but supportive all the same. He was so, so thankful he hadn’t given up on Domino.

For Shizuka’s birthday, she was coming to stay in Domino with him. She was only six months away from finishing her Doctorate, choosing to work in medicine, following their mother who was a nurse and her surgeries to fix her eyesight, which were still incredibly successful. Doctors had told her to expect some quicker-than-normal sight degeneration but that hadn’t started deteriorating yet. Shizuka had also been a motivator for Katsuya to pursue further study, watching her smash out her thesis the year before and listening to her gush about conferences she was invited to, or which industry-known researchers had quoted her thesis in their own research.

“Katsu, who’s been staying over?” Shizuka asked, pouring an iced tea out of the jug she’d made earlier. “You keeping someone from me?”

He cocked his head innocently, but his eyes read guilty.

“I found a second toothbrush in the bathroom.” She held up a small box. “I also didn’t realise you’d started smoking again.” She clicked her tongue. “When did we start keeping secrets from each other, Katsu?”

“It’s not what it…” Katsuya took a deep breath. “Kaiba.”

“Mokuba?” she asked, stirring her iced tea with a metal straw, placing a mint leaf on the rim of her glass. “Haven’t seen him in a while, we’ll have to hang out.”

“Seto.” Shizuka’s eyes were huge as he poured himself a glass.

“So you guys are…?”

“Friends.” Katsuya defended as her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. “Just friends.” He shrugged. “We have been for years.”

“Huh.”

Katsuya paused on how much of the truth he was wanting to spill. It sounded much worse than it was. On paper, it was a real semi-long-term relationship, but it was much more nuanced than that. Just a friendship that fulfilled a plethora of needs. “It’s nothing, really. We caught up a few years ago, went for a friendly birthday drink. Now we hang out. If he’s too drunk to drive home, he’ll crash here.”

“How often does that occur for him to have his own toothbrush here?”

“If you’re asking if we’re dating, we aren’t.” Katsuya shrugged but stared intently at his ice cubes, beginning to melt quickly in the sticky heat.

“You’re awfully defensive of something that’s just a friendship.” She quoted the words in the air. “Monthly? Weekly? What is it?”

“We have a routine.” Katsuya admitted shyly, letting her deduce what she wanted to.

“Wow. What did Mokuba say?” She paused, watching Katsuya’s reaction. “Wait. Nobody knows? What are you hiding it for?”

“We’re…” he threw his hands up. “Imagine if I’d told you that I’d become friends with the guy who made my life so terrible ten years ago. You’d piss yourself.”

“It’s a reasonable reaction sure, and then I’d get over it and listen to you explain what happened. So, what changed then?” Shizuka idly played with the lighter she’d found in the kitchen cabinet with the cigarettes. “Get drunk and…”

“It’s a little more complicated than that…”

“I’ve got a week to listen.”

So Katsuya editorialised their timeline. From the crush at high school, to their first drunken kiss. To their next drunken kiss and passing out at the apartment (he left out the details), to the coffee shop and the tutoring and how much Seto had loosened up as friends. Katsuya had won the April Fools pranks this year but only because he got Isono involved and duct-taped a harmonica in Seto’s car grill. He mentioned that he’d tried dating (though it’d just been that one date) and that he’d be okay if Seto was too because it was just platonic. She listened, noting the way he talked about him and the whole situation. He sounded so sincerely happy.

 “Right…so after all that, you’re just friends?” Shizuka asked as she reached over for her wine glass to pour herself another drink.

“I swear, Shizuka. We’re just friends.”

She raised her eyebrows but dropped the subject as Katsuya began to dance around the technicalities. It wasn’t Shizuka’s place to judge, she just felt a little left-out but promised that she wouldn’t tell anyone. And a heaviness that had sat on Katsuya’s chest for longer than he’d realised lifted. Feeling like his world was a lot brighter for not keeping a secret that he wasn’t keeping on purpose.

 

 

-

 

 

_September. 27._

 

“K…Jounouchi, what are you doing here?”

 Katsuya looked up from his computer screen in the corner of the office where he was working on promotional material for KaibaCorp.

“Oh, uh, hi S…Kaiba-San.” Katsuya blushed. “I’m doing my practical hours here for my degree. Since I’m already employed with KaibaCorp, I approached my supervisor and sent a message to the people I’d worked with on the promotional campaigns before who got me directly involved, rather than getting placed somewhere else.”

“I see.” Seto felt a little blindsided. After all their talks about work and school, Katsuya had never really mentioned that he needed to complete work experience for his final semester. Seto filed that away in ‘conversations to have in the weekend.’

“I won’t be in your way, Kaiba-San.” Katsuya bowed a little, showing formal respect while surrounded by other KaibaCorp employees who were all eyeing their interaction curiously. It was no secret that they’d had their spate of public spats, so he could only imagine they were at least mildly shocked at their professionalism.

“…hmm.” Seto walked off and Katsuya returned to his project, watching his supervisor edit the latest photoshoot for KaibaCorp’s Winter Holiday Apparel campaign. With Katsuya now twenty-seven, his time in front of the camera was ending, with this being his last official photoshoot. He’d been a little sad as they’d wrapped the final takes, congratulating him for almost six years of work with both clothing lines and Duel Disk promotions. Katsuya had been out on the Thursday night with his team to celebrate, something he tended not to make too much of a habit of. He was hoping that the transition into marketing would land him a new position in the company, and everything sounded positive. Despite his reputation as a young duellist, Katsuya had adapted to the working life and had made many work friends within KaibaCorp but had subsequently heeded advice to keep his work and home life separate. He’d been successful thus far. But it was all coming to a head when Kaiba walked in and made him stutter like a lovestruck teenager.

On time, Seto arrived at Katsuya’s apartment wrapped in a plush scarf and long winterweight jacket, cheeks frosted from a bitter wind. Katsuya had made a wonderfully warm hot-pot and the pair huddled around it, warming themselves up and taking the edge off the working week with a light sake.

“You could have warned me,” Seto scolded, cupping his bowl in his icy hands. “You know I don’t appreciate surprises.”

“I didn’t even think about it,” Katsuya shrugged off his whining. “I’ve been employed for six years. It was just normal.”

“But we don’t usually cross paths.”

“Again, now you know. I used honorifics. Simmer down.” Katsuya poked his tongue out, then burning his tongue on the boiling soup.

“You deserved that,” Seto rolled his eyes as he poured them both a sake. “Well, indeed now I know about it and I appreciate you keeping form.” He clinked the sake cups together. “Another week down.” They both smiled as they sipped and finished their meal. “I also just appreciate your form in general.”

“Oh?” Katsuya asked, placing his empty bowl in the kitchen sink, running the tap to rinse it off.

“I’ll miss seeing you in our campaigns,” he admitted. “It was nice to appreciate the model.”

Katsuya struck a pose as he cleaned up the bench. “I know, I’m pretty delightful.” He smirked as Seto pulled the finger. “You know, just because I’m not your brand model anymore doesn’t mean I can’t model for you…” Katsuya stepped around the kitchen counter, pulling at Seto’s top button. “Kaiba-San. Tell me what poses you want me in. I’ll do what you ask of me, I’m but just an employee of yours.”

“On your knees,” Seto breathed as he stood up. “Mouth around my cock.” He felt the stir in the pit of his stomach as Katsuya obliged, warm hands pulling his zipper down. He shimmied his slacks off his hips and Katsuya pulled at his boxers, pouting up at him, slowly licking his lips. “Fuck you’re my kryptonite,” he croaked as Katsuya gave him one firm tug, knees weak. Katsuya did as he was ordered, eyelashes fluttering as he made eye contact while his cheeks dimpled as he sucked from the base to the tip. Katsuya was well-versed with his tongue and the two years they’d been intimate, they’d both learned exactly what the other liked. Seto _melted_ when Katsuya would massage the tip of his cock while running fingernails over his thighs, which was exactly what he was doing now. Seto reached back to the counter to stabilise himself as he throbbed and let out an erotic sigh. Katsuya rolled his tongue back, catching Seto’s orgasm quick and heavy.

Taking a moment to breathe, they both regained their composure. Seto buttoned himself up again before pushing Katsuya onto the couch to reciprocate with his hands. He’d always sworn to take one, give one.

And then, like nothing had happened after Katsuya had cleaned himself up, they settled into a night watching movies and snacking on homemade cookies.

 

 

-

 

 

_December. 28._  
  


“Do you ever think where you’d be if we hadn’t started being friends?” Katsuya asked, lying on his couch with a martini. Over the years, Katsuya had begun to learn how to make cocktails and now had an impressive liquor cabinet because Seto was a picky drinker. Most of it had come from Seto himself during Christmases and Birthdays because it was something they could both enjoy without having to think about how to buy presents otherwise. Katsuya’s offer in return was always dinner because acts of service were the only thing to get a man who could buy everything other than time.

It was the night that he’d handed in his final assignment. Three years of study, two and a half years of friendship. Katsuya had just accepted a placement full-time at KaibaCorp and was in the process of apartment-hunting. Being a full-time KaibaCorp employee meant he could live somewhere with a better view, or with better amenities like an in-house gym and pool. Katsuya was thankful that his life was so comfortable, and he had a small but solid savings account. Everything had been working out almost too well, but he didn’t want to think chaos into existence.

“I’ve considered where I’d be, and I’d potentially be worse off,” Seto admitted over his fourth cocktail. “God, Katsuya. I was so much more high-strung.”

“I’ve heard. You know they talk about how much more mellow you are compared to, well, you three years ago. Maybe you’ve grown up, hey?”

Seto shrugged. “I was certainly angrier at the world for the cards I was dealt.”

“I remember you telling me to get over the cards I was dealt,” Katsuya reminisced, ten years on. “I mean, I know about that horrible fuckface of an adopted father, but what are those other cards? You don’t really talk about your past like that.”

Seto stiffened.

“If it’s a sensitive thing I’ll drop it, but I’ve been pretty open with you and you should know I won’t judge you.”

“Well.” Seto looked into the glass, seeing his face through the ripples of gin. “There’s been a lot of times where I’ve had people break my trust, or I’ve made decisions for immediate benefit without considering the long-term consequences.

“Goz…that asshole…wasn’t the first. When our parents died, we were taken in by my mother’s brother. They only did it to gain access to the trusts our parents had set up. They bled the family estate dry and dropped us off at the orphanage, all the while telling us that it was our fault that our parents died.

I didn’t know our parents died from a car accident. I believed them.” Seto clutched the locket around his neck, still adorned with the same picture of Mokuba. “Mokuba doesn’t remember it all, but he certainly has attachment issues, but he chooses to whimsically attach himself to anybody now, and I choose to do the exact opposite.”

Katsuya just breathed as Seto spilled out more details, watching his fingernails grip the chair.

“I told you there was a woman before you, right?” Katsuya nodded, fidgeting with his hair. “I didn’t want to sleep with her, but I was also in a position where…” he shook his head. “if I didn’t it would have been as good as coming out. I couldn’t bear that then.”

“I’m so sorry,” Katsuya soothed, rubbing Seto’s back, feeling him tense as the words spilled out of him.

“It’s nobody’s fault. It’s just how it was. I didn’t enjoy it. But it was transactional. That kind of thing is common, and Goz…he set it up.”

“You were underage?” Katsuya asked quietly.

“I was only just legal, but I was significantly younger than her.” Seto stared blankly into space, downing the rest of his drink, knuckles white from gripping so hard. “I didn’t want to, but I consented. I _didn’t_ want to. But he said “you’ll do this for me, won’t you. Don’t want anybody thinking you’re a prude little faggot, right?” I mean, what was I meant to do or say to that?

“It wasn’t long after that he met his demise. And I’ll never elaborate on that and that alone because that is not yours to carry.”

Katsuya reached over and grabbed the martini glass out of Seto’s hand. “I’m sorry you went through that shit. I really am. You didn’t deserve that at all.”

“Thank you.” He shrugged but his eyes looked sad so Katsuya hugged him for a moment, not expecting Seto to hug back, but he did, nestling his face into his fluffy hair. “It almost feels better to talk about it.” He eventually pulled away, alcoholic flush in his cheeks. “But that’s why I don’t think I’ll ever date. I couldn’t trust anybody else. It took me a lot to trust you.”

“But you trust me now.”

“I trusted you back then.” Seto picked at his fingernails with nerves. “That’s why I let you in a little at a time. You never judged me.”

“I never will.” Katsuya crinkled his nose as he smiled.

 

 

-

 

 

_July. 28._

 

Mokuba walked in, dropping his keys on the kitchen counter with a metallic _klang_. It took him a moment to register that it wasn’t just Seto sitting at the dining table eating Thai takeaways, deep in animated conversation.

“Welcome home,” Seto said, before realising what Mokuba had just walked in on, turning bright red. Despite knowing their friendship would come up eventually, and despite not wanting to keep it an explicit secret, he still had a butterfly flutter in his throat as he waited on Mokuba’s reaction.

“Hi. Hey Jou. What are you doing here?”

Jou choked on his soup. “Uh, hi Mokuba! Just hanging out with your brother.”

“Hanging out?” Mokuba used his fingers to insinuate more.

Seto facepalmed while Katsuya laughed. “Literally. Just hanging out, eating Thai. Was probably gonna chill out and play some games but now that you’re here…”

“You’re not meant to be home for another week,” Seto said, cutting through the awkward pause that followed, watching Mokuba’s eyes flick between the two rapidly as if he were trying to connect the rest of the story.

“Would that have changed what you’re up to tonight?” Mokuba asked, gesturing at the food before grabbing a pair of chopsticks and stealing noodles off Seto’s plate.

Seto shrugged. “Probably would have made a point of hanging out with you and done this another night.”

“Rude,” Katsuya huffed. “I can leave if you want.”

“Nah,” Mokuba said. “Since you’re already here, we can play some games or watch a movie. It’ll be nice to catch up with you anyway. What you been up to these days?”

They made idol chatter as they picked an action-packed movie to sink into the plush couches with, Katsuya making way too much popcorn for just three people (as usual). Mokuba and Katsuya were enthralled in the cop chases. Explosions served to bridge the otherwise lacking plot. Seto stayed curled up in the left corner of the couch, flicking attention between the movie and his phone, typing emails away and reading reports absentmindedly, highlighting mistakes or areas for clarification. He normally left his phone alone during their time together so Katsuya knew he was feeling awkward about how it had all gone down.

“So, anyway, Jou.” Mokuba leaned into Katsuya’s space when Seto got up to go to the bathroom. “What is all of this?”

“What does it look like?” Katsuya shrugged but didn’t look Mokuba in the eyes for a moment, following Seto’s departure with his eyes.

“It looks like a date night.”

“Oh wow, no. Not at all. Kaib’ and I have just been hanging out like this for a while. Surprised he never mentioned anything.”

Mokuba tiptoed around his words, feeling a little dejected that he had been left out of something that was clearly so important in his brother’s life. It was only a few years ago that Seto would have told him everything, and for Mokuba to be gone enough and frequently enough for this whole friendship (?) to have never come up before now left him conversation to be desired. “Is it purely platonic?”

“I mean…” Katsuya gestured weakly. “We’re both adults, okay? It might have headed upstairs once or twice but it’s nothing more than curbing loneliness and having needs.”

Mokuba laughed. “I knew it. I could have sworn there was something going on between you both when we were younger.” Still, he was distractedly picking at some loose skin around his fingernail, a sliver of anxiety and Katsuya could tell something was wrong.

“I don’t know why he didn’t mention it.”

“Ahh,” Mokuba waved his hands at Katsuya. “I’m sure it has to do with his general social awkwardness. Truthfully, I should have asked. The answers just used to always be the same and I…”

“…didn’t expect things to change?” Katsuya asked, filling in Mokuba’s trailing off thought.

He shrugged his shoulders, pushing himself away from the couch and treading into the kitchen. Katsuya sighed to himself, pulling his phone out to check the time.

 

 

-

 

 

July. 28.

 

It seemed like Mokuba was avoiding Seto. Even though he was home for a whole fortnight, he’d hardly run into him. Seto couldn’t help but fixate unhealthily on it without having the tenacity to explicitly bring it up.

Katsuya’s advice was to leave him be for a few days and then broach the subject. “It could be something completely unrelated. The kid is turning twenty-five. We were twenty-five when we started hanging out. It’s a complicated age.”

Seto knocked on Mokuba’s door on Wednesday night with his heartbeat in his throat.

“Hi.” Mokuba opened his door, wearing his pyjama shorts. “What’s up.”

“We need to talk,” Seto said.

“Jeez, haven’t had one of these chats for a while.” Mokuba blew his long hair out of his eyes but opened the door regardless. Seto sat on the floor of Mokuba’s teenagerhood room, wallpaper outdated from Mokuba’s now sleek and sophisticated style. Seto realised he hadn’t really stepped foot in the room since Mokuba started being independent at seventeen. They looked at each other through the mirror like they used to when they were young and trying to broach harder subjects.

“I’m sorry.”

Mokuba hummed.

“I shouldn’t have omitted details of my life, even if they were just omitted by proxy.”

Mokuba shook his head. “Look, it’s not about that really. I just want you to know that I’m supportive. I’ve known you were gay for the longest time. I remember us talking about that like this.”

“I’m…” Seto broke Mokuba’s gaze and looked at his hands. “I want you to know you’re still the most important person in my life.”

“I know that Seto.” He reached over and put his hand on Seto’s shoulder. “But you’ve changed. Everyone’s noticed it. And it can’t be a coincidence. How long has it been since you and Jou…?”

“We started broaching our friendship almost three years ago now.”

“And that lines up to when I started seeing a much more level-headed older brother.”

“Being friends with him makes me content,” Seto confessed. “I feel like he gets me, what we’ve been through.”

“Do you leave the house together?”

Seto shook his head. “Initially we met up at a coffee shop, but it’s just less complicated if we don’t. People might start to insinuate something else.”

“And what is the rest of it like?” Mokuba cocked his head and kept eye contact through the mirror. “I know you guys have been fucking.”

“Mokuba!”

“Come off it,” Mokuba hissed. “Jou told me so.”

Seto raised his eyebrow. “Everything is satisfactory.”

“And you’re still just calling this a friendship?”

Seto sat there in silence staring at Mokuba.

“That’s what a relationship is you fucking eggplant. You are meant to smile when you see each other. You are meant to have sex with your best friend. Relationships aren’t meant to be complicated. We latch on, or don’t latch on at all, to these unhealthy expectations because we didn’t know any different. I’ve been in therapy.”

“I don’t know, I…”

“Seto, I don’t know if you just love him like a friend or are _in_ love with him. That’s not my business. I’m just saying that you guys have been checking every box for dating for this whole fucking time and I’ve not been a part of any of it. Wouldn’t you just like to be able to hang out with him in public?”

Seto shook his head. “God, you make my head hurt sometimes, kid.”

“And that’s why you love me. Now, I’m fucking exhausted and I’ve got a flight at 5am so I’m going to sleep. I’ll be back in a few days though. I guess I better send you my itinerary, so I don’t walk in on you guys doing it in the kitchen or something.”

“Mokuba!” Seto exclaimed, throwing a pillow at him.

 

 

-

 

_March, 29._

 

Seto hadn’t spent much time thinking on Mokuba’s conversation. Well, that was a complete fucking lie. Seto had spent almost every free, waking minute, considering Mokuba’s point of view. Even while he was drafting work emails or reading reports. Jounouchi’s name would creep up on work documents, or there’d be mention to Duel Monsters cards that Seto had memorised were in his deck.

The next meetup with Katsuya had been pretty typical. They’d chucked on a movie and Seto had shelved those thoughts to just be with his friend in their purely platonic way. He only paused on what Mokuba had said after they’d had sex and they were lying on Katsuya’s bed in his new apartment, window overlooking the rainbow Ferris Wheel.

“It’d be nice to ride that with you sometime,” Katsuya mentioned. “We haven’t really hung out outside of the house.”

Seto responded with a noncommittal “mmm.” It hadn’t been the first time Katsuya had said something after sex like that, and Seto had put it down to idle chatter but he wondered without asking what the meaning behind it was.

But as the months dragged through winter and into spring, Seto contemplated how people would react if they started being seen together outside of their comfortable four walls. It’s not like they’d kept their comings and goings secret, but nobody had circulated rumours because there’d been no relative proof and maybe no interest in chasing what seemed like dead leads. It was well-known that Katsuya and Mokuba were friends which would negate any potential buzz from Katsuya heading to the Kaiba Mansion, and Katsuya wasn’t famous, or infamous enough for paparazzi to camp outside his apartment building, letting Seto come and go as he pleased, not that paparazzi in Japan were anywhere as intrusive as the west.

But hanging out together in front of people? If there was one thing to get the tabloids talking, it was _that_.

Even throwing himself into launch seasons and long projects at work which cut their visits down, Mokuba’s speech had welled to the surface every so often. It’s not like he looked at Katsuya in the stereotypically romantic way. They had a solid friendship, and their “friends-with-benefits” scenario had suited them both monogamously fine. Katsuya confessed he hadn’t contemplated dating outside of that one instance years ago – he’d been approached a few times since but had never reciprocated - and Seto didn’t want to date either. He didn’t catch his heartbeat in his throat when Katsuya would smile at him, but he would always find himself smiling back. He didn’t swoon every time the light struck Katsuya’s cheekbones, but he would watch and be passively glad that they were spending time together as Katsuya laughed and the lines around his eyes started to define. He hadn’t built a future planned around him, but he hadn’t explicitly ruled it out, and that’s, where he figured, the real conundrum was and the difference between platonic and romantic.

Mokuba’s conversation had planted the seed and Seto had unintendedly tended to it. And he reminisced over their timeline. Every conversation he could remember, he analysed it with a fine-toothed comb. Katsuya had liked-liked him when he was eighteen, sure. But those feelings had changed and matured. Did Katsuya think they could have worked out then? Can someone have a crush and have it develop into just a friendship? Seto’s internet searching came up polarised on the issue which just confused him more. Some people swore it was normal to have a relationship like theirs, others claimed that one day something would have to give. Did it have to? Were people just happy to be swept up in the fantasy of it all? Seto had spent ample time studying psychology but always fell short when it came to applying it to his own life.

Drunk in the mansion a few weeks after Katsuya’s twenty-ninth birthday, Seto slouched over the counter on his fifth drink watching the way Katsuya laughed at the way they were slurring their words. He felt like he could float away. He wasn’t even sure that it was him speaking, feeling his mouth moving slower than words were spilling out.

Replaying in his mind was one three-minute exchange when they were younger that he had all but forgotten about until he pieced together the night they’d last seen each other at Otogi’s party. The image of Katsuya leaning over the rail chain-smoking and plastered with his youthful grin catching Seto’s every single word.

“Remember that party?” Seto blurted out.

“Vaguely,” Katsuya laughed. “I can’t believe you turned up to that!”

“Neither can I,” Seto leaned onto his forearms. “Do you remember our agreement?” He tapped his middle finger on the countertop with a wry smile.

Katsuya bit his lip and looked up, trying to recall. “Was…wait, was that when we were outside after everyone had passed out?”

Seto nodded, averting his gaze, feeling time slow down to a crawl. He could feel his heart beating in his throat rapidly.

 

 

-  


 

_April. 18._  
  


So Jou had had a _lot_ more to drink than he’d taken count of by the way his head was spinning, and he steadied himself on his feet before pulling his hands away from Seto’s cheeks and spun to look out at the cityscape again, glittering with Neon signs advertising Karaoke and Pachinko, hoping that avoiding Kaiba’s gaze meant that he hadn’t just _done_ _that_. Or, if he had, that it wasn’t like he’d ended everything they’d worked on – any chance of redemption or Seto learning how to be close to someone. Even if that someone couldn’t be him, he hadn’t minded being a prototype. Whatever to make Seto happy.

“You know what’s fucked up?” Jou finally said after a period of silence, mixed with the ambience of the humming electricity poles above them and Seto’s weight shifting on his feet.

“Go on.”

“We really could have worked out.”

“You’re drunk, Jounouchi.”

He giggled and leaned over the rail. “I might be actually. Yeah. I think I’m pretty drunk. Kissed the guy that I’ve had a crush on for the longest time.” He shook his hair into his eyes and threw back his head to laugh more. “Sober me is going to hate drunk me soooo much.”

“I also did not predict tonight to end this way.”

“So, how do you rate me as a kisser?” Jou spun around and poked his tongue out.

“You’re in the top two, sure.”

“And how many people have you kissed?” Jou asked, suspiciously. “Five? Ten? Fifty?”

“Two.” Kaiba’s response was deadpan, before cracking his façade, with a small crinkle on the tip of his nose.

“You’re funny.” Jou slid against the railing and settled on the concrete of the walkway. “Well, the best news I have for you is that I’ll be gone from Domino soon. Won’t be in your hair anymore.”

“Where are you going?”

“I think I’ll trace my American roots and try and figure it out. Gotta save some money first though since my father keeps pissing it away and I’m stuck with th’ fucking bills.”

“So you mean to say I have to fly ten thousand kilometres to proclaim my love in New York if I regret not making a move?” Kaiba jested, testing the waters.

“If I run into you in America I’ll assume it’s a nightmare.”

“I propose you a crazy scenario.”

“You had me at propose.” Katsuya winked and swayed on the railing.

“If we’re both single and thirty?”

“What, you’ll get a prenup and we’ll marry each other and live in contempt.”

“Sure.”

“And you’re accusing _me_ of being drunk?”

“Those words came out of your mouth.” The pair stood staring at each other for seconds that felt like lifetimes. “How _else_ would I have _agreed_ to letting you kiss me? Obviously I’m inebriated.”

Katsuya shrugged but kept grinning. “I guess that’s a deal, Moneybags. Shame I’ll be swimming in offers by then. If you change your mind and wanna date for real though, call me.” Katsuya blew him a kiss before heading back inside to pass out on a couch.

 

 

-

 

 

_March. 29 (cont.)_

 

“Oh, haha. You mean the one where we said if we were both thirty and single?”

Seto nodded, hair falling into his eyes which he brushed away. Katsuya studied his face while Seto blinked away momentarily. He wasn’t sure whether he was merely laughing at the situation or broaching the conversation.

“I mean, I…” his conversation fell off when he realised that Seto was being serious. “Do you think we’re really made for living together?” That was his only argument and it fell flat after how many nights they’d been spending together. They had quickly fallen into sync staying with each other so often. The things that annoyed Katsuya the most about Seto were tiny, and the things that annoyed Seto about Katsuya were the same things that made their friendship interesting – his childlike inquisitions, his constant need to fill the quiet with chatter. It was nice to find solace in somebody so opposite it was like they were meant to fit around each other.

“Hmmm.” Seto bit his lip, nerves washing over him. Everything they had right now was nice. Although, it had been just “nice” for a long, long time now. They weren’t more than friends, but they weren’t _not_ more than friends.

Would he throw it all away if he kept going with the conversation? _Fuck it_. He’d already said enough to make it weird, so why not, _why not_ go all the way? He could blame it all on being drunk if it went badly, anyway. Well, most of it. Maybe not the trivial part where he fished a small box out of his jacket pocket and slid it across the counter to Katsuya, whose mouth was agape.

“Are you fuckin’ serious?” Katsuya asked, without opening the box. “Oh shit, you _are_.” He exhaled, unaware that he’d been holding his breath long enough to become dizzy. “I mean. I uh.”

“You can think on it.” Seto got out of his seat and grabbed a glass and some ice from Katsuya’s freezer, pouring himself a plum wine overtop. Katsuya watched his body language for a moment, before prying open the box. A simple black band with rubies laid between the infinity symbol. Nothing gauche, nothing showy. Just a simple wedding band? Engagement band? Katsuya didn’t know how to respond, except by putting it on his finger and holding it out to the light.

“How do you wanna do it?” Katsuya asked.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, registry wedding? Public Engagement? Moving into yours or having separate spaces? We need to talk about all of this you know.”

Seto laughed. And laughed. Holding his forehead in his palm he continued to laugh. “Of course we do. What are we even doing? What am I doing? I’m so drunk. I’m _so_ sorry.”

“I mean, Yes. I’ll marry you, we agreed.” Katsuya finally answered, remembering he’d skipped over the question. “If you’re serious. I guess I just wasn’t expecting it. I’d totally forgotten, until you mentioned it just now.”

Seto looked up at the ceiling before drinking his wine in one go, hoping for liquid courage to tide him over. “I was thinking a small, private affair. No fanfare. Let them find out as they do. Invite our siblings. You can tell your friends if you want, or not. Whatever.”

“Are you just gonna rock up to KaibaCorp one day wearing a wedding ring and let them have a field day?”

He shrugged with glazed-over eyes. “Why not?”

Katsuya cracked up. “Of course. You’re Seto fucking Kaiba and this would be just like you to do as you please and fuck the rest.”

“On the contrary, the only person I’ve been fucking in the last four years has been you.”

“Who fucks who now?” Katsuya giggled, as he poured himself another Sake. “Wouldn’t the world like to know that Seto considers himself “vers” bottom.”

 

 

-

 

 

Katsuya had spent a long time staring at the ring on his finger, unsure of how he was meant to feel. Was he happy? Yes, of course. He’d been proposed to by someone he was comfortable and happy with. He just wasn’t sure if Seto saw them as more than friends or not. Introspectively Katsuya wondered when that turning point was for him – for them both.

But it all made sense in the least sensical of ways. “On paper” as he’d justified it to Shizuka it looked like a relationship. Mokuba knew. Shizuka knew. They hadn’t asked much more about it except if they were still “together” and both answers had been an evasive “yes, we’re still friends.” Katsuya had no interest in filling Seto’s space with a relationship because that would mean giving up what they had – Seto was the most important person outside of Shizuka to him. She could ask him what Seto’s favourite foods, movies, even books were, and he could answer without hesitation. Which was more than he could do with any of his estranged friends now, or even back when they saw each other every day at high school.

And maybe things would get to that madly-in-love stage if they weren’t hiding their relationship, and maybe they wouldn’t, but they were both twenty-nine and life was starting to pass before their eyes and around those eyes were faint smile lines that Seto had been mostly responsible for. Yeah, ten years on and Seto was the source of his happiness. Through the toughest, most complicated of times, and now through the nicest, carefree.

He was way too hungover to be having sober conversations about it yet – it was time for breakfast. He dragged his body down the flight of stairs, clutching the rail. Talking about twenty-nine, hangovers were brutal now. They’d stopped drinking as often or as heavily but all the most important milestones came with a glass in their hands as if it gave them a tangible excuse to “not drink alone.”

Seto clambered down the stairs half an hour later, freshly showered and looking almost as worse for wear. Thankful that blueberry pancakes and French-pressed coffees were ready and aromatic, he settled in without much conversation until he felt the caffeine reviving his neurons.

“How are you?” Seto finally asked to Katsuya, aware that he was still wearing the ring.

“I’m too old to be drinkin’ like this anymore,” he grimaced at Seto as he got up to find some painkillers. “This shit’s unfair. I’m not meant to be over the hill yet.”

“One day we’ll learn to stop mixing our liquors,” Seto gently chided them both. “But I mean, how are you?” he gestured at the ring. “It’s not too weird is it?”

Katsuya shrugged, twisting the ring around his finger while their attention was drawn to it. “I hadn’t thought about marriage an’ shit for a long time. I remember thinkin’ once or twice when I was about twenty-one that I wanted to get married someday but I never thought it’d be like this.”

“It’s not too late for you to say no if you’re uncomfortable,” Seto assured. “Nothing has to change if you don’t want it to. Or maybe we need to have a conversation and figure out what we’re both looking for in our futures and if we’re just holding each other back from...”

“Seto, I’mma stop you right there.” Katsuya swivelled on his stool to face Seto. “This isn’t a breakup chat. It’s just a ‘I didn’t think we were together but…’ chat.”

“I didn’t think we were ‘together’ either.”

“What changed? Do you love me?”

Seto’s heartbeat caught in his throat, and he saw the way Katsuya was looking at him expectantly. “I do love you. I’m not sure…whether I’m ‘in’ love with you or not,” he quoted with his fingers, “but forgive me for caring so much about you and your happiness.” Seto tapped his long fingernails on the kitchen counter anxiously. “I only want you to marry me if you’re truly not wanting to date anyone, and if you’re happy seeing this future with us.”

“Are we finally having the exclusivity chat?” Katsuya broke the tension with a joke and a small smile through the pounding headache that was dulling under the paracetamol.

“I think it’s only fair to ask for monogamy if we’re married because then we’re dragging a lot more than just our feelings and needs into this relationship.” And there it was in black and white. The word ‘relationship’ uttered for the first time to describe them. Katsuya felt the word grip around his finger. “Mokuba and I had a chat a while ago. A lot of things began to make sense. And just as many didn’t.”

Katsuya sighed. “Do you mind if I take a few days to think about everything?”

Seto shook his head. “Take whatever time you need. I shouldn’t have gotten caught up in it all without talking to you about it.”

“Yes, but we all know you fixate.” Katsuya pulled the ring off his finger and looked closely at it, considering what it symbolised. “It’s not a no, okay. I think it’s still a yes. I just need to do some soul searching, and I think it’s best to have these talks first before we make this public news. A ring on a finger is certainly a conversation starter that we don’t need before we’ve figured it out.”

“I can give you a chain to wear it around your neck?” Seto offered quietly.

“Please.” Seto shuffled upstairs and Katsuya placed the ring on the counter as his pulse thumped. He was still too hungover to continue a deep conversation, so he began washing the dishes to pass the time before Seto came back down with a thin silver necklace.

“I hope this is long enough to hide it under your shirt...” He looped the chain through the ring and clasped it around Katsuya’s neck, hands brushing his collarbone.

“Thank you.” Katsuya dried his hands on the dishtowel. “Hey. I think I’m going to head home. I need to make a list of things we need to talk about and stuff. I’m uh…thank you.” Katsuya touched the ring. “It’s beautiful. How did you choose it?”

“After all this time you think I need to even second guess what you’d like?”

 

 

-

 

 

_April, 29._   
  


Something _had_ changed, and it wasn’t just the seasons, but the Sakura were littered on the ground mocking him like they knew a decade ago that their relationship was wasn’t just going to be quashed after high-school graduation. Katsuya had a wave of nicotine-starved nostalgia wash over him of the times he’d spilled his heart out, and even now Seto still remembered details.

Katsuya looked at himself in his bathroom mirror, holding the ring still firmly on the chain under the collar of his t-shirt before reaching for his phone.

_Katsuya: What are you up to this weekend?_

_Shizuka: By the sounds of things I’m coming to see you?_

_Katsuya: What makes you say that?_

_Shizuka: You only ask like that if you need/want something._

Katsuya rolled his eyes but replied anyway. Shizuka wasn’t just book smart and it was only natural that their conversations were weightier than they’d ever been. Shizuka had at least kept him in the loop with the people she’d dated, she liked the remind him of that. Though she was very busy at work and was much more interested in being a career woman than settling down for the time being. She was always on small getaways with University friends with their Doctor’s salaries taking photos at National Heritage sites or on Okinawan beaches.

_Katsuya: Spare room is all yours whenever you can make it._

_Shizuka: There’s cheap flights tomorrow morning so I’ll take an extra day off. I’ll see you after work?_

_Katsuya: Perfect ^_^_

Katsuya had messaged Seto afterwards, asking to reschedule their conversation to Saturday night when Shizuka would head home, and he’d been more than accommodating. He’d mentioned that he’d been spending a lot of time in the office ‘working on stuff’ which was code for ‘I’m stressed the fuck out.’ Katsuya felt a little guilty for not getting back to him with a definitive answer to settle his nerves but the stress was complicated and justified. Seto, for once, could sit back and let Katsuya do some contemplating and over-analysing too.

Whenever talks got serious, Shizuka would crack open a bottle of wine from the last place she’d visited for work or holiday. Settled in with a Pear Wine she’d picked up from Northern Japan, and a cheese platter she’d ordered from the cheesemongers while Katsuya had been at work, he opened the conversation by placing the ring on the table gently.

“You can’t marry your own sister,” she giggled as the took a sip. “Despite us having different last names, people would find out pretty quickly!” Inspecting it closely, she didn’t even need to ask the origins. “So, what’s happening then? He asked you?”

“Yeah.”

“And what’d you say?”

“Yes.”

Shizuka squealed. “Congratulations! He chose well.” He picked it back up and put it back on his chain. “Wait, what’s the hesitation?”

“Nobody else knows yet.”

“Nobody else knows you’re dating.”

“We’re _not_ though.”

“Puh-lease.” Shizuka swirled her wine glass. “Friends have dates like this where they dish gossip over glasses of wine and talk about people they’re dating, or work drama, or encourage each other to do crazy shit on a whim. Friends don’t have long-term goals together or monogamous sexual arrangements.”

“But we do all that like we’re just friends. We encourage each other to do whatever. Neither of us are jealous. Neither of us have asked the other, well, before this weekend, to be exclusive.”

“Do you kiss each other?”

Katsuya rolled his eyes. “Not really, no. Maybe we make out sometimes before we…” Shizuka covered her ears. “Okay, okay you prude. Act like you’re innocent. I just don’t know the difference between a best friend and a relationship and no amount of searching online for that line is helping me distinguish what happened, or when it changed, or if it has.”

“If he kissed you without wanting it to lead to sex, how would you feel?”

Katsuya paused, considering why he’d never kissed him. It’s not like he hadn’t looked at Seto’s lips and thought about how nice it was to kiss him and how good he smelled up close. Shizuka noticed his reaction which could best be described as stunned.

“When you moved into this apartment, did you think about how much space there’ll be for the two of you? Do you think about cooking things for him that you don’t like? If he started dating and stopped having time for you would you just be sad, or would you be jealous?”

“I mean, you’re right, but...”

“When did that all change?”

“I don’t think it ever did…” Katsuya replied slowly.

“You guys are a pair of idiots suited for each other.”

“But Shizuka, It’s not like I’m ‘in’ love with him. My heart doesn’t soar when I see him or do any of that cliché shit. It’s just comfortable to chill with him.”

“So? You’re through the honeymoon period. That’s really, really just normal. Or maybe, you haven’t had it because you’ve been so focussed on the ‘friendship’ word and every time you’ve been broaching that next step you’ve both quashed it because you’ve been too scared to lose what you’ve built up.” Cutting a sliver of cheese and putting it on a cracker with a pickle, she sighed softly. “It’s not like either of you had anything remotely healthy to emulate.”

Katsuya sat in silence, thinking about her words carefully. Maybe he was relieved that it was all happening, so they could enjoy their life a little more publicly. And maybe she was right, maybe they could find, or at least explore, that feeling if they weren’t so adamant about avoiding it.

 

 

-

 

 

“Katsuya,” Seto whispered as he swung open the front door.

“Seto.” They stood staring at each other before Katsuya went in for a quick hug, feeling more awkward than he’d ever been around him. He felt his world shifting underneath him. Pulling away, he grabbed Seto’s hands, and stood on tip toes for a kiss.

“Katsuya, what are you…” Seto closed his eyes as he felt his body heat pressing on his face, feeling it spread across his body even after Katsuya pulled back and let go of his hands.

“Nope, that’s still weird,” Katsuya replied, laughing. “Shizuka got in my head. We’re still just weird friends.”

Seto sighed in relief. “I’m glad you’re still feeling optimistic.”

“I wasn’t about to walk away from all we’ve built together. If we can’t work through a drunken proposal either way with all the shit we’ve been through and all the time we’ve invested in this then our foundation has glaring cracks in it.”

“Hmm.” Seto led the pair into the kitchen, and Katsuya draped over the kitchen counter waiting for Seto to pour him a glass of gin and tonic. As Katsuya reached for the clasp around his neck Seto watched intently, noticing a small smile to himself before Katsuya looked up again. His fingers wrapped through the chain and he put the ring on his finger.

“Do you think people would notice?”

“Depends on what finger you wore it on. And whether you’re prepared to lie about it’s origin.” Seto pushed the drink towards Katsuya, leaning in from the other side of the counter, stirring his drink absently with his pinkie.

Katsuya sighed and put his head on his palms. “I’m about to get married to Seto Kaiba, huh? Wild.”

“Don’t say it with such disdain.”

Katsuya looked up again to Seto’s frown. “I don’t mean it like that, jeez!” He reached his index finger out to Seto’s nose and touched it. “So, let’s talk. What are you thinking?” He took a sip of his tonic, letting the bubbles dance on his tongue.

“I’m thinking next Saturday if that suits you and your sister, wear something nice.”

Katsuya choked on the mouthful, spluttering until he cleared his lungs. “Can’t get married if you _kill_ me!” With his sleeve he wiped tears from the corners of his eyes. “You’re really serious about this low-key stuff, aren’t you?”

“I don’t see any reason why anybody but Mokuba and Shizuka-San need to be invited. I don’t see a reason for a commotion. It’s our party, we can make the guest list four if we want to.”

Shrugging, Katsuya stood up from leaning on the counter and motioned to head outside into Seto’s courtyard. Settling in a bench near some flowers, Katsuya turned to face him, arm slung over the back. “I guess the only real question I could come up with was what do you expect to change?”

Seto drummed his fingers on the bench. “I don’t think much needs to change initially. I’m very happy to continue with our rather-informal arrangement of coming and going if you feel like you want your space. I certainly find it easier this way if I’m honest with you because of my work schedule. I think it provides a much healthier relationship for both of us not feeling suffocated and needy but still feeling very much welcome in each other’s spaces.”

Katsuya smiled, watching the sky turning vibrant shades of orange. “Yeah, I love being close to work in the weekdays. And I don’t know that I could live here, in this stiff-ass mansion properly without going crazy.”

“Maybe, depending on what happens obviously, we could look at getting a place together that’s much more liveable. I have servers for KaibaCorp and classified projects here though, so I’d need to look into logistics, or keeping this site with security.” Seto relaxed his shoulders and turned to face the sunset. “I don’t think a lot needs to change,” he reiterated. “Obviously, sometime, people will find out. God knows how long it’ll take but it will happen. And we need to be able to deal with that. There’s going to be a lot of questions that’ll make us both uncomfortable but I…”

Katsuya started to laugh. “Nah, nothing makes me uncomfortable. They wanna know if you’ve got a big dick or something is all. I can give them a sly thumbs up.”

Seto screwed his face up. “You’re so uncouth.”

“It’s the truth.” Katsuya poked his tongue out. “You know what I’m looking forward to?”

Seto just hummed.

“Being able to actually go out with you without it being weird. Like, shit. We’ve only been out to a bar once or twice in the whole time we’ve been chilling. I’d love to take some cool trips with you, or like, maybe go out to eat sometimes without it being weird.”

“Why didn’t you verbalise that seriously before now?”

Katsuya played with the strands of hair hanging around his temples. “Ahh, I thought it felt too date-like and I didn’t really think you’d wanna do stuff like that. Hanging at home with you served a purpose a lot more when I was studyin’ but like, my friends and I used to do stuff like go to the movies or the arcade, or to a festival together. None of that is romantic shit but you don’t like people and crowds, so I just figured.”

“Yes, that’s true, but I’d put up with things I don’t explicitly like if it made you happy.”

“Seto’s gone soft!” Katsuya teased, pushing lightly against Seto’s shoulder. “So, we’re getting married on Saturday then?”

“Sure, if your sister can make it. Mokuba is in town.”

“I can call her now.” Seto nodded and Katsuya made a quick call asking her to come to the city on Saturday, to which she excitedly agreed without him needing to explain. “So, that’s that huh? This time next week Seto Kaiba is going to be a married man.”

“Yeah, now I’ve just got to tell Mokuba.”

“Wait, you haven’t told him yet?”

“I wanted to make sure you were going to say yes.” Seto frowned. “His reaction is going to be interesting.”\\\

 

 

-

 

 

“What do you mean you’re getting married _today_?” Mokuba’s voice cracked despite being twenty five. “Have you lost your marbles!?”

Shizuka and Mokuba were standing in Katsuya’s kitchenette, watching the awkward body language between their brothers who were standing more than an arms-width apart. They had both suspected they were getting a talk, but Shizuka found out she knew more than Mokuba did when they’d decided to meet up for breakfast without their brothers around. Shizuka had kept hush on the ring situation but both had discussed that their brothers were ‘big dummies’ who were quite obviously right for each other.

“Yeah, Mr Impulsive over here lost his marbles,” Katsuya joked, holding out his right hand with the ring on the fourth finger. “But he has good taste.”

“So, you’ve been dating since when? I want answers, I’m sick of your vagueness, Seto.”

“Well, we haven’t been,” Katsuya said quietly as he fidgeted with the ring.

“What do you _mean_ by that!? How do you go from ‘just friends’ to getting married?!”

“What Katsuya is trying to say is that we haven’t inherently been dating with the intention of finding true love, but we merely figure that we’re at that place in our life where nobody else is providing the companionship we have for each other, and we’re content with making that officially exclusive.”

“So say you’re dating? Like a normal couple? Move in together. Have some dates. Figure it out. Jesus Christ, Seto, you’re so extra.”

Katsuya began to laugh. “You have to admit, Mokuba has a point.” Katsuya pulled up a bar stool. “Listen guys, I’ll give you an abridged version of how we got here. Not just here,” he gestured his arms vaguely around, “but _here_. Today. With a wedding in what, three hours between people who hated each other once upon a time.”

“You better fucking abridge it.” Seto grumbled.

“When we were seventeen, a little after Battle City, I saw Seto breaking down under the pressures of KaibaCorp. It was just little things, but he had a hairpin trigger and one day he snapped and I didn’t see him for weeks. So, I asked him out…” the siblings took a sharp inhale of breath “…side. For…” he caught Seto’s glare and edited. “Well, for some reprieve. So, we’d sneak out of classes together and I’d talk to him and he started letting little bits of it all out at a time. Then Seto came to a party because Mokuba lost a game of Dungeon Dice Monsters.”

“To Otogi, yes I remember that. I didn’t think Seto would go but I also desperately wanted you out of the house. I thought making some friends would do you some good.” Mokuba shook his head with a reminiscent smile.

“What Seto didn’t bank on that night was getting drunk and having a conversation with me I guess. So, when we were outside having a chat I kissed him and I only vaguely remember we made a ‘if we’re thirty and single’ pact. Then I left town and when I came home we didn’t really run into each other outside of the arena.”

“That is a very succinct recap,” Seto nodded.

“Then about, well, almost four years ago now, Seto kept stalkin’ me at the coffee shop I was studying at…”

“I was not stalking you, you self-absorbed ass. You were at _my_ regular coffee shop.”

“You kept staring at me, but anyway, we got talking in little doses. He was helpin’ me with my homework, that kinda stuff. Then he asked me for birthday drinks coz you were out of town. We became friends, I guess best friends. Neither of us really expected it to happen like that but we got the package deal. Someone we could trust. Someone who respected our spaces. Someone who respected our views even when they were different. And a companionship that I’m not sure I’d ever find elsewhere. The rest is history.”

“So, you’re saying if I hadn’t lost that game of Dungeon Dice Monsters you guys would never…” Mokuba grabbed a seat.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying kid, this is your fault,” Katsuya poked him in the ribs.

“This is…a lot,” Shizuka added. “But, I say if you’re happy and you’ve talked about it then go for it. Never one for a traditional family eh Katsu?”

“You’re telling me!” Mokuba giggled, letting it settle in that he was sitting in the kitchenette of what was hours away from being his blended family. “Jesus, okay. We’ve got a wedding then. Are you guys meant to see each other now? Are you having a honeymoon? What do we wear?”

Seto cleared his throat. “I hardly think marriage traditions matter considering we’re both men.”

“Can you even get legally married?” Shizuka asked. “It’s not officially legal here I thought?”

“We can get a same-sex partnership certificate here in Domino City. I assume we’ll have our ‘honeymoon’” Seto used his fingers to quote, “and legal marriage overseas somewhere where it’s recognised.”

Katsuya shrugged. “Sure. When’s good? Tomorrow’s good by me.”

Seto narrowed his gaze. “If you’re serious and have your passport, we can get on a plane this afternoon. I’ve had the pre-nup written up.”

Katsuya frowned, unsure whether he was joking but knowing his theoretical other half, he assumed not. Not that he had an issue with signing anything, but they hadn’t talked about any of that more technical stuff. He hadn’t even thought about what would happen if they got div…no. Katsuya shrugged the thought away. “Nah, we should take a longer holiday. I’m not gonna bounce on my co-workers with no notice, especially if it’s with their boss. What a scandal!”

Mokuba shifted in his chair. “Well, I guess that’s that. We better get glammed up, eh Shizuka?”

“Indeed.” She blew a kiss at her older brother as she disappeared to her room to hunt through her suitcase for something fitting.

The ‘wedding’ itself went off without a hitch. Literally. Mokuba and Shizuka watched as Katsuya and Seto signed page upon page of legal documents. No passing of rings, no kissing, nothing remotely ‘like-the-movies,’ but they left the City Ward Office holding a piece of paper that signified their trust in each other, and legal recourse in Domino City when it came to more sensitive matters like medical decisions.

It seemed like a big commotion over nothing, but still. Seto Kaiba and Katsuya Jounouchi were as legally married as Japan was willing to offer; there was no going back. And as they slipped out the back doors to the Ward Office, Seto slyly, without their siblings watching, slid the band onto Katsuya’s finger.

Yeah, that made it feel real.

 

 

-

 

 

_May. 29._

It had been about four weeks since Katsuya had started wearing his band on his right hand, fourth finger, and while he was evasive about its origins, he still admitted to co-workers that it was from someone “incredibly special.”

“How long have you been together?” one of them had asked, and Katsuya took a little joy in truthfully answering that he hadn’t been on a proper date in years, let alone courting anybody. “No, seriously, I haven’t!” he defended before turning back to his project. He felt the stares and whispers follow him around the office for more than a week but nobody else had the audacity to come up and ask him directly. Their own investigations had come up fruitless and the chatter died down when the next office drama fired up.

A few weeks later, Katsuya submitted his leave form. Oversharing, he lied about how his “sister” had “something important” in “Tokyo.” He felt the dryness of his supervisor’s disbelief as she stamped the leave form anyway, and he clutched it in his hands as he fired a message to Seto confirming it was going to plan.

A few days later, news trickled through the company that Seto Kaiba was on his way to America for business, though the dates purposefully didn’t exactly line up with Katsuya’s leave.

Taking a private jet in the small hours, Katsuya and Seto sat opposite each other. Seto typed rapidly on his laptop, analysing reports. The blue-light glasses made him look dignifiedly attractive. Katsuya thumbed his way through a technology magazine when he wasn’t dozing off.

Seto hadn’t been overly chatty, but he had been distracted, playing with the ring they’d picked out together from the same designer that had done Katsuya’s ring.

“Does it feel weird to you?”

“This?”

“Yeah, getting married for real.”

“I suppose so,” Seto admitted, before putting it back in the box carefully. “But I’m not backing out if that’s what you’re asking.”

Seto’s plans were to fit in a smidge of official work with KaibaCorp’s distribution team in America to add validity to his itinerary. Katsuya was just happy to take a moment to himself in a city where nobody should recognise him. As their plane hit the tarmac, Katsuya’s eyes snapped open, feeling the sticky California heat catch up as the door opened. Passports checked, they snuck out the back of the airport into a private rental car, where Seto drove them to a hotel in the city centre.

“You know the plans for tomorrow?” Seto asked as he tapped his room key to the penthouse.

“It’s at 10am, right? Want me to wear anything nice?”

“There’s no particular dress code, but if you’d like to that’s up to you.” Seto placed his laptop bag on the desk and clipped his suitcase open to get his suits and shirts out to hang up. “We’ll have to answer some questions before we get our physical licence, but we can get married straight after.”

“Huh.” Katsuya threw himself onto the Super-King bed. “What kind of stuff?”

“How long we’ve been together, that kind of thing. I’ve had to…make it convincing that we’ve lived together.”

“What do you mean by that? They really check that kinda stuff?”

“Yes. Marriages for Visas are quite common and they’re thorough, especially when you’ve flown in. After all, you still have American citizenship and I could theoretically be using you for that. Mokuba’s given us a testimony, and I’ve provided security footage of you coming and going around the mansion. That’s the only way we can get a confidential marriage licence.”

“Confidential? They have different types?” Katsuya asked, stretching over the bed to the bedside table to grab the TV remote. “Wild.” He flicked through the TV absently until he found a music channel for background noise.

“The main difference is that nobody can look up our records, and we don’t need a witness in exchange.” Seto unravelled his laptop charger and plugged in his electronics, refreshing his emails before placing his cell phone down.

“Huh.” Katsuya clicked his tongue. “Don’t you think though, it’d be kind of fun to let them have just one lead?”

“One lead?”

“Y’know. Everyone’s gonna find out one day. Sooner, later. Whatever. That’s up to you. But you said you’re gonna wear your ring and they’re bound to start snooping. How are ya gonna explain your way out of that?”

“I was going to no comment the whole thing.”

“Fuck off,” Katsuya laughed. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Who’s ridiculous?” Seto asked, jumping on top of Katsuya, pinning his arms down with one hand and tickling his ribcage.

“Ahhh,” Katsuya writhed under him giggling. “Sto-o-op.” Seto laughed and bit his lip as Katsuya threw him off the bed before chasing him into the bathroom. Katsuya locked the door quickly and Seto banged at it while he caught his breath. “Okay, we’re both ridiculous. Truce?”

“Truce,” Seto said seriously, before launching himself at Katsuya again as he opened the door.

“Fu-uu-uck of-fff,” he squealed. “You’re such a diiiiiiick.” Katsuya twisted himself out from under Seto’s grip and took vantage, tickling him into submission until Seto’s laugh filled up the room between his own whining.

“Fine! Fine! You win. Let them talk.” Seto pushed his weight up, knocking Katsuya gently to the carpet. “Let’s live.”

“Let’s start fucking living,” Katsuya echoed with vigour. “Fuck them and their bullshit. We’re almost thirty. Who gives a shit whether they know? It doesn’t change who we are and what we’ve been doing anyway.”

“Fine. One condition?”

Katsuya shrugged. “Sure.”

“We don’t tell them, we just let them find out. And when someone cracks the code then I’ll admit it all in one go.”

Katsuya got up, scooting across the carpet to the kitchenette with a cluttered city view of skyscrapers and cranes. “I can work with that.”

 

 

-

 

 

“Morning,” Katsuya mumbled, pushing himself up on his forearms before remembering where they were. Butterflies filled his stomach and for a moment he thought he might be sick from nerves before Seto swivelled in his chair.

“Morning. Sorry if I’ve woken you.”

“Nah it’s cool.” Katsuya swung his legs out onto the plush carpet and stretched before finding a pair of crumpled boxers in his luggage. “Smells good.” Seto had woken up early without jetlag and had ventured a few blocks away to a coffee roastery where he’d bought beans to press, and a croissant, knowing food would get Katsuya up in time to be ready. Settled into his second cup of coffee, Seto had been oddly productive, if only to take his mind off what was happening later on.

“It’s not a bad brew,” Seto confirmed, pushing his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose. “We have to leave in about an hour. Is that enough time for you?”

“Yeah, I’ll go have a shower and get pretty in a minute. But first, I’m fuckin’ starving.”

Seto motioned towards the croissant and swivelled back in his chair, only pausing a few minutes later as Katsuya guzzled the last of his coffee down. “You know,” he began, paused, and then continued “this almost doesn’t feel real.”

Katsuya grinned toothily. “How would Domino feel, knowing you’re permanently taking the most eligible bachelor off the market?”

“I’m breaking so many hearts, secretly,” Seto deadpanned as he tapped his pen on the desk before typing again. With no sense of urgency, Katsuya stood under the heat of the shower, blanking out on all the thoughts that had been rushing to his head while he drank coffee and thought about whether one day he’d change his last name. Nah. He could never be a Kaiba, he decided. Too much baggage. Kaiba himself had admitted he didn’t want to keep his name but with KaibaCorp, and Mokuba sharing the name it was just easier to let live.

Forty-five minutes later, Katsuya was standing in front of the mirror, hair combed but still quaffed, face freshly shaved and moisturised, button up shirt ironed paired with fitted chinos. He admitted he looked pretty damn fresh. Not that Seto didn’t look attractive, dressed in a classic suit pant and dark dress shirt with the top button undone, massively toned down from what he normally wore to work or in public.

Katsuya liked this rough-around-the-edges-for-Kaiba kind of look. He bit his lip when he noticed Seto’s collarbone peeking through. Katsuya also appreciated a well-fitted suit, and those pants were really doing _something_ to him. Noticing they had to get going, he willed those thoughts away. Maybe they could have post-wedding sex in the only semblance of traditions they’d be following.

On the drive to the Registry Offices, Katsuya found himself swallowing out of reflex to the butterflies he felt in his throat the closer he came. Drinking an entire bottle of water to keep his hands occupied from playing with his ring, then needing to pee once they arrived, he tapped his foot while they waited for their appointment incessantly.

“You good?” Seto asked in a hushed voice.

“Yeah, I’m good. ‘S just weird.”

Their appointment with the Justice of the Peace took about half-an-hour. He was an older gentleman with kind eyes that reminded Katsuya of Solomon Motou, who gently asked all the questions he needed to before happily granting them permission to marry. The only questions either of them found strange were when he asked if they were going to formalise the process with rings or a kiss. The pair looked at each other and said a simple “no.”

Katsuya slipped the ring on Seto’s finger as they entered the celebrant’s room. He uttered some stock-version vows, asked if there were any reasons why they couldn’t be legally married, and within minutes they left with two signatures on a piece of paper that declared them married.

_Married_.

Holding the paper in front of him, Katsuya exhaled. “Dude. You’re my _husband_.”

“That tends to be how this all works, yes,” Seto confirmed, observing Katsuya’s incredulousness. His chest rose and fall hearing those words out loud.

“Wow. Jesus. Okay.”

“Do you feel different?” Seto opened the driver’s door on his car, keeping his eyes from Katsuya’s as he waited for a response. He hadn’t felt nervous through the whole process until now.

“Like, yes and no? I guess nothing’s changed but it’s still a pretty big deal, ya know?”

“It’s just a repeat of last month,” Seto shrugged. “It’s just legal now, kind of.” But his shoulders relaxed as he started the car and drove them back towards their hotel.

“Yeah, it’ll be nice when Japan decides to make this legal for real instead.”

“Surely soon,” Seto mumbled, twisting his ring around his finger, light catching the sapphires every time he turned the wheel.

 

 

-

 

 

Katsuya returned to work the following Thursday, and Seto the Tuesday after. Katsuya showed off pictures of Shizuka and him together at his apartment a few weeks back with a non-descript background claiming they were from the weekend. “She’s so pretty!” His workmates cooed, her strawberry hair bleached from the sun. She was wearing the dress that they’d gone to the City Ward in, a coy smile like she knew something they didn’t. Katsuya knew he’d eventually slip up, but he was doing his best to respect Seto’s privacy, so he’d considered the smaller details.

On his end, it only took Seto half a day before news travelled around the office, and even to the local media, of Seto’s fancy new jewellery. Just different enough from Katsuya’s own to not make an immediate connection, despite rings being on the same finger. Huddled around the office coffee machine, everyone shared articles between them of countless blurry pictures of Seto’s right hand. Only if you squinted you’d pick the ring out. Katsuya peered over their shoulders as he poured himself a cup. “Wild,” Katsuya muttered.

“A married man is so much more attractive than an unmarried man!” one swooned and a bunch agreed enthusiastically.

“Do we know that he’s even married?” Katsuya questioned, sitting down at his computer, covering his own hand momentarily with his sleeve. “Surely we would have heard about it by now otherwise.”

Half the afternoon was spent with his co-workers online, searching public records for registered marriages, analysing interviews, reading blog posts speculating who Seto Kaiba could possibly be in a relationship with. As expected, nothing came of the search, Domino City choosing to keep Partnership Certificates private due to their inherent lack of legality and prejudice. Katsuya silently continued to work on his project with the chatter in the background, snapping Seto just once with a commentary of his disruption.

_Katsuya: Who knew such a small piece of jewellery would get them talking._

_Seto: On work time._

_Katsuya: It’s the biggest ‘news’ in a while. You’re probably going to have Paparazzi on your tale for a hot minute._

_Seto: My favourite._

Seto swivelled around in his chair, placing his phone face down on the desk. A barrage of incoming calls left unanswered. People trying to make appointments with him just to see the ring in person. A sly “congratulations” text from Pegasus himself. Seto rolled his eyes and continued about his life, cameras pointing in his face as he stepped outside, paparazzi shouting at him. Just another day in the office, he shrugged as he flicked his cape and Isono guided him through the crowd and safely back to his mansion, where paparazzi camped on the streets for what felt like weeks, fruitless weeks. They’d already decided to keep it on the down-low for a little while until the pressure was off them and they could go back to how they’d always been without interference.

Sinking into his bath, Seto recalled everything that had happened up until now. The way the whole month had felt like a dream or a long VR simulation. Even looking at the marriage certificate just felt like words on paper without weighting. How he felt about Katsuya hadn’t changed at all, if anything, maybe he had a little more respect because Katsuya had just rolled with the punches and been kind and thoughtful through the whole process. A few messages checking up on him, but nothing demanding.

He could hardly believe that the kid who was so rough around the edges, so ready for a fight had mellowed out and learned patience and decorum. That they’d clicked after their teenage hormones and constant states of danger had clouded their vision and started them off on the wrong footing. Everything had been so _easy_ from the first time Seto decided to sit down and make that conversation in the coffee shop, just as everything was softer from the first time they skipped class together. Katsuya was, for all intents and purposes, the ideal partner to have. Seto had often struggled with the idea of finding someone who was quite happy to be alone together and had all but resigned himself to staying single until Katsuya had walked into his life again. The last thing either of them needed was to feel trapped or tied down and they’d more than discussed it in detail over the years.

Katsuya was a great listener when Seto just gave him a chance.

Maybe their trauma was good for something, Seto wryly smiled as he rested his head back against the bath, wetting the tips of his ears. Without it, they never would have found common ground.

 

 

-

 

 

_July, 29._  
  


After being so hot on his tale taking photos of every possible option they had for potential partners – secretaries, business meetings, waitresses – weeks of dead leads meant the buzz had all but died down. Katsuya and Seto had returned to their schedule, coming and going a little more discretely after their small break apart while the media was the most active, but otherwise their lives continued as if they hadn’t gotten married at all. Friday nights bled into Sunday mornings, conversations hadn’t changed nor their demeanour around each other. In everything but legalities, Seto Kaiba and Katsuya Jounouchi were the same best friends.

They remained very entertained by all the conspiracy theories that had popped up in corners of the internet of who Seto could potentially be courting. Katsuya took great pleasure in reading them out loud to piss Seto off.

“Ooh, today they’re exploring the possibility of you and Bandit Keith. Guess they’ve started scraping the bottom of the barrel.”

“I’d rather shove a cactus up my own ass.” Seto screwed up his face in sheer disgust.

“Hey,” Katsuya looked up from his phone as he hung upside down on his couch in pyjama bottoms and with uncombed hair. “It looks like the rain is letting up this afternoon. Do you wanna go out and grab lunch later? I’m not working today.”

“Hmmm,” Seto mumbled as he flicked through a book while drinking a coffee. “I suppose so.”

“Ya not nervous about being seen in public together?”

Seto shrugged. “It’s been long enough, hasn’t it? Especially with them pairing me with…that degenerate. We might as well make our public debut.”

“Just friends,” Katsuya giggled, rolling over to his stomach. “Just extremely married friends. Shall I ask Mokuba to come out.”

“Sure. He’s home today.” Katsuya typed animatedly, agreeing to meet him downtown a little after the lunch rush at a Ramen restaurant he was fond of. The morning passed quickly, with Katsuya lounging around until last minute in his pyjamas, cracking open an arcade-style game on his TV and challenging Seto to a few rounds once he’d finished his novel.

It had been a few years now since Seto and Katsuya would talk in the coffee shop. Katsuya thought he’d be unphased about hanging out together, but feeling the eyes drilling into his back and hearing the camera phone shutters going off made him feel self-conscious enough to check his hair in a window he passed by. He wondered what kind of things would be published about them.

Seto shrugged of Katsuya’s stiffness, muttering “it comes with the territory,” when Katsuya asked him if he was feeling alright still. Directing the conversations to work-related projects and general chatter about the city as they passed through the streets helped ease Katsuya’s nerves. Katsuya wondered what was going through his head as they stopped outside the Ramen restaurant, noticing Mokuba had beat them there and was already sitting in a booth with menus.

“Hey kid,” Katsuya greeted cheerily, shaking off the weird feeling as the aroma smacked him in the face. Friends came out to eat, right? It was just a foreign concept after such a long time cooped up indoors together. Like they’d been hiding this big family secret for four years. Katsuya hadn’t really been out with any friends for a while, only really Shizuka.  

Mokuba rolled his eyes. “Kept me waiting, too cool for me huh?”

Seto just raised his eyebrows but took the seat beside him, grabbing a menu and giving it a quick scan before deciding on an array of small side-dishes. Mokuba eagerly ordered the Shio Ramen, Katsuya the Spicy Miso. Mokuba looked at the rings, looked up at the two and smirked. “You guys been getting any shit?”

Seto sighed and Katsuya laughed, scratching the back of his head. “Ah, I’m not important enough. And I think it’s all pretty much died down since they’ve come up with nothin.’” Katsuya grinned as he passed his phone over. “Y’know, I think Kaiba and Bandit Keith _would_ make a great couple.”

“Fuck you,” Seto hissed. Mokuba cracked up as he scrolled through the crazy fan-theory.

“I could see it!” Mokuba ribbed, winding Seto up more. “Well, unfortunately for Bandit Keith and the fan’s fantasies, your public debut is certainly going to cause waves.”

Katsuya twisted his ring around his finger. “Ah, it’s just friends going out for lunch. What’s to report?”

“The mere fact that at one point we all had bets on who was going to murder who, and there’s television interviews of you two slagging each other off.”

“It’s merely a fact that Katsuya was a third-rate duellist with a fourth-rate deck. Now he’s solidly second-rate across the board.”

“Have another tournament and participate then! You decided to step out of the one I got first in.”

“Because I was busy running a company,” Seto stated. Katsuya huffed. They locked eyes and glowered at each other for a minute before settling down with small smiles as the side-dishes were served across the table. An array of pickles, tempura, and natto. Mokuba crinkled his nose at the natto and pushed it across the table to Seto.

“I’m so glad that you two are exactly the same.” Mokuba grabbed his chopsticks and gingerly ate a pickle.

“Why wouldn’t we be?”

“Because they say marriage ruins relationships,” he snickered as Katsuya bopped him on the head.

“Yo, you notice that chick there with the camera,” Katsuya hissed as he leaned in to grab some pickles.

“They’re everywhere,” Seto hummed in disgust.

“See?” Mokuba asked.

“Yo, come here!” Katsuya motioned to the voyeuristic girl, causing her to hide. “Nah, seriously. I know what you’re up to. I’ll grant you an exclusive!”

“What the fuck are you…”

“Trust me _baby_.” Katsuya winked as the girl approached reservedly. “Look, you’re obviously here for a reason. Ask what you’ve gotta ask, and then leave us to it, kay? Ramen tastes better when I can slurp it all over my shirt without you getting it on camera.”

Mokuba popped an edamame into his mouth, curious to see how it would all play out. Seto sighed with dissatisfaction, threading his fingers together on the table. A waitress excused the girl softly, pushing the bowls of Ramen in front of Katsuya and Mokuba who grinned with glee.

“I…uh…” she was relatively non-descript, and obviously shy as her words caught in her mouth. “Are…”

“Yup, we’re married! Caught us.” Katsuya giggled, throwing his own ring-laden hand out flamboyantly. “Seto is the gentlest lover I’ve _ever_ had. Bakes me cakes, takes me for walks under the moonlight!”

“R…really?”

“Naw, pretty sure Kaiba doesn’t have a romantic bone in his body!” Katsuya giggled, adding garlic flakes to his ramen. “Ain’t that right Mokuba?”

“Nope, never seen Seto be anything like that,” Mokuba blinked innocently. “Don’t think he’ll ever be that kind of guy.” Dipping his Gyoza into the vinegar he slyly added “you guys will fall for anything though, right? What are you going to post online huh? You about to untangle what about this situation is the truth?” Mokuba winked as the reporter scurried away. “Oh, you don’t want a candid pic?”

“You little shitbag,” Katsuya giggled as Seto buried his head in his palms. “Hey you,” he kicked him under the table. “They’re going to write what they please anyway, so we might as well.”

“But you just…” Seto sighed.

“Dude, you know they won’t print shit.” Katsuya dug into his Ramen. It tasted pretty damn good with the ambience of the Kaiba brothers.

 

 

-

 

 

Predictably, nothing concrete got printed. And as Katsuya and Seto started appearing together in public more often, reporters stopped caring, assuming it was a dead lead, after Mokuba had exclusively, craftily commented that they’d been “frenemies for years. What more do you need to know?”

“Are they…”

“What? Sucking each other’s dicks?” Mokuba asked crudely, knowing it couldn’t go to print. “I’m Seto’s _brother_ , I don’t want to know about that shit. Probably though. I’m sure if you had the guts to ask them yourselves Jou would happily spill all their nasty secrets.”

Katsuya cracked up as Mokuba relayed the story and Seto frowned but returned to his scrolling on his phone. “Look, bro, they’re dense as shit or think I’m fucking with them. Either way it’s pretty funny.”

Katsuya shrugged. “Well, we’ve told them the truth multiple times. It’s their fault for not believing it.”

“You two are impossible.”

As the seasons changed again and the sticky heat of rainy summer turned into Autumn leaves littering the ground in beautiful reds and golds, Seto was spending more time at Katsuya’s out of convenience; torrential rain had flooded him out of the valley where his mansion was more than once. Seto cut his own key to Katsuya’s apartment and would roll in whenever he was finished work, often well after midnight, and out again before Katsuya was dressed. Nothing else had changed since they’d gotten married. They were still great friends with a consistent sex life. If anything, the sex kept getting better with age.

“I’m thinking of getting a place nearby,” Seto announced over breakfast one Saturday morning. “You keen to...”  

“Yeah, whatever works for you,” Katsuya shrugged as he brewed two coffees. “If you aren’t mad about me being in your space.”

“Well, I’ve been comfortably enough in yours, but I’d like a functional workspace instead of spreading myself over your floor.”

“So would I,” Katsuya admitted. “a creative space would be nice. I can’t fit a big enough desk in the corner.” He stirred his coffee before throwing his spoon in the sink. “You gonna keep the mansion?”

“Yes, I’ll keep it. I have backup equipment there. It has value. Its sale would certainly bring stress I don’t need.”

“Hmmm.”

Seto proceeded to buy a space that they both slowly moved full-time into. Katsuya’s lease was about to come to an end anyway, proving perfect timing. Just five minutes’ walk from KaibaCorp but overlooking the beach a little further down the harbour. And yet, nobody realised they were coming and going from the same building, often at the same time, or if they did, they simply didn’t care.

Katsuya’s favourite part about the penthouse suite was his own corner of the place, a small room with sliding doors that opened right up. Clean monochromatic lines painted on a feature wall and the backdrop of water provided artistic ambience. The opposite side of the penthouse housed Seto’s own office, though much more demurely decorated with bookshelves and darker wood furniture. It was a perfect balance between their aesthetics and lifestyles.

They didn’t share a bedroom either, the place had three. The spare room was ready for when either of their siblings wanted to visit. Katsuya’s room was attached to his office, and Seto’s attached to an ensuite bathroom. The lounge was wide and simply decorated, but the kitchen was full at Katsuya’s request. And most nights they slept apart because of Seto’s schedule, but sometimes they’d fall asleep together or on the couch, like they’d always done, or after sex in the weekends.

Katsuya secretly loved living with Seto for reasons he couldn’t really explain. It was a lot less lonely coming home to a place which was clearly coinhabited by people with different aesthetics and life-goals, sure, but he also loved the small pranks, like sugar in the salt shaker, or zip-tying the scissors together, because it caused Seto to be mad for a minute, and then plot creative revenge. A favourite was sellotaping party poppers behind doors so Katsuya would screech first thing in the morning as they exploded with confetti over the kitchen floor. It was truly like living with his best friend, except his best friend wasn’t bringing home chicks or leaving science experiments growing in the back of the vegetable drawer.

Despite the lifestyle shift, nothing had changed between them. They were still comfortable, there were no magical confessions of love. Katsuya found himself getting wound up just the same at the little things, like when Seto would leave a knife on the edge of the sink, and Seto when Katsuya would leave his socks in the living room. But then Katsuya would do thoughtful things like leave an extra serving of dinner aside for when Seto got home, and Seto would reciprocate by brewing fresh coffee in the morning. The pocket within Platonic and Intimacy they had nestled into was comfortable.

 

 

-

 

 

_October. 30_

 

Revealed: The truth behind Seto Kaiba’s marriage.

_Back in May this year speculation arose behind the multi-billionaire as he was spotted wearing a ring on his right fourth-finger. Despite previous attempts to uncover a story, we had been unsuccessful, until today._

_A photo was submitted last week of Seto Kaiba and ex-pro duellist Katsuya Jounouchi accompanying each other to the same apartment building, and photos were taken of them on the balcony of the penthouse looking rather intimate._

_Upon further investigation, on Monday May 21 st, while on an alleged business trip in America, Kaiba and Jounouchi registered their marriage publicly in California._

_Following this, an anonymous tip-off from staff from the Domino City Ward, we have seen confirmed documentation supporting this with Domino City’s Partnership Certificate being applied for a month earlier, with both men’s siblings reportedly in attendance._

_We are awaiting comment from Kaiba and Jounouchi._

_We know it’s taken a long time to break this story, and what a revelation indeed._

Katsuya passed Seto the cigarette packet as he passed his phone over, heading out to the balcony that the photo had been taken on to light it, scanning the view to pinpoint where the photo might have been taken from. Seto sighed as he read the article before lighting his own cigarette.

“So, what do you want to do?”

Seto shrugged. “It’s not like what they’ve written is untrue. I told you I’d come clean if they figured it all out.”

“Took them long enough,” Katsuya giggled, expelling smoke out of his nose. “At least they won’t have you on passive girlfriend watch now.”

“Yeah, now I’m just a gay businessman.” Seto rolled his eyes and flicked the ash into a small ashtray.

“Hey, it’s not that bad.” Katsuya grinned. “Who knows, maybe having someone so prolific coming out is what the country needs to start thinking more openly about it.” Katsuya slung his arms around Seto’s shoulders and gave them a squeeze. “You’ll be alright. You’re Seto fucking Kaiba. Don’t read the comments, their opinion doesn’t matter.”

“No, you’re completely right.” He grabbed his phone out and sent a message, and within minutes a press release was scheduled for the next morning.

 

Under the bright ring lights and twenty-five cameras pointing in their faces, Seto’s eyes creased a little. It was only under harsh lighting he started looking his age, but he combatted it as best as he could, covered lightly in foundation and concealer. Katsuya couldn’t help but think Seto still looked attractive with a sliver of vulnerability flash before his eyes as the cameras counted down to filming.

Mokuba noted from backstage that this was the calmest his brother had ever been in front of the cameras. Normally there were stunts or theatrics, he never addressed feelings, just facts. Somehow, bringing somebody else into it all had worn him down enough for him to sit there on the stool and face directly to the audience. Katsuya was sitting half a metre away from him on a separate stool.

“I understand the last while there have been many questions about my private life, and until now I have actively chosen to not comment on them because they have not been of relevance to you.”

Katsuya looked to the side with a neutral reaction, but clasped his own hands together, watching Seto’s lips move and feeling the butterflies rising to his throat.

“Yes, I am legally married to Katsuya Jounouchi. Yes, we have been exclusively seeing each other for a long time. Yes, I identify as gay. That’s all you need to know.”

Drowned out by the sound of cameras flashing, Katsuya almost couldn’t hear himself speak.

“I uh…” he dropped his words before reconvening. “What he said. Seto Kaiba is my best friend, and we got married out of a great deal of respect and love for each other.” He wrapped hair around his fingers and smiled awkwardly.

Seto cleared his throat. “I was almost surprised that it took everyone so long to find our paper trail. It was almost fun for us.”

“Oh yeah,” Katsuya relaxed his shoulders. “We’ve more than once outrightly told different reporters that we’re together. We weren’t trying to hide anything.”

“There’s nothing to hide.” Seto agreed. “Now, I hope that’s sufficient to leave both of us alone.”

Katsuya crinkled his nose and winked at the photographers as they walked out back to questions being shouted at them. “Dude,” he finally exhaled, grabbing a bottle of water handed to him by security. “That was weird.”

“Hmm. I’m heading home. You?”

“Yeah, I’m following.” Katsuya trailed behind him, hopping in the back of the limo. Once they were on the move he began to laugh. And laugh, contagiously. Seto buried his forehead in his palms. “God, what did we just do?”

“Given them a years’ worth of content.” Katsuya tapped his water bottle against Seto’s. “Here’s to us. For now, for ever.”

 

 

-

 

 

_Epilogue._

“Honey, I’m home.”

Seto pulled his reading glasses off and placed them neatly on the black coffee table on top of a pile of reports he’d been reading. “Hey.”

“Busy day?” Katsuya hung his jacket on the coatrack and slid out of his shoes and into his house slippers, opening the refrigerator and grabbing the water jug out. He motioned to Seto whether he’d like a glass, and he nodded his head.

“Just the same,” Seto twirled a pen absently in his hand while relaxing back into the couch. “I see you’ve been working hard.”

“I hope you like what I designed for the Winter merch.” Katsuya handed the glass of water over and threw himself back into the plush cushion.

“Maybe if you changed the blue a little, and the shading here, it would stand out a little more.” Holding the pen in his teeth, Seto grabbed his computer out and opened to the graphics design project Katsuya had spent the last while working on.

“Oh, I see what you mean. Hmm. I’ll think about that tomorrow. Off the clock now though!” Katsuya grinned as he switched the television on through his watch and kicked the foot rest out from under him.

“Lucky for some,” Seto muttered before returning to his work for a little while longer. Ignoring Katsuya’s background noise, he spread out on the couch beside him and continued typing away.

It’d been turbulent for a while after their press conference, being badgered in the streets had caused them to hole up again for a while. Distant friends had gotten in contact and demanded his non-edited side of the story, but Katsuya kept a lot of it a secret. It took almost half-a-year for them to feel like they weren’t just a novelty to the press.

Shizuka had become close with Mokuba during visits in the holidays; their two disjointed families coming together seamlessly. When she wasn’t home, she was busy travelling for work, being awarded for her contributions to medicine research. Mokuba spent a lot of time in America with KaibaCorp from his own volition and had begun seriously dating. The pair continued to give their older siblings sass about their relationship. “I still can’t believe you’re so fucking weird about it all,” Mokuba exclaimed one night as they went to their separate rooms. “You’re missing out on being the little spoon if you sleep apart!”

“I’m missing out on him kneeing me from his flailing!” Katsuya called back.

Katsuya and Seto had spent a lot of time following exploring what their relationship meant. In a world where romance was thrust down their throats, they continued to find happiness in their cohabitation.

“Alright, I’m heading to bed.” Katsuya stretched, shirt riding up as he threw his arms up. “I’ve made you a bento. See you tomorrow.”

“Goodnight, Katsuya.” His eyes lingered on the doorway for a long time before flicking down to his ring. And to himself, he smiled.

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to explore the concept of finding comfort in a relationship that wasn't traditionally romantic. I also just wanted to write some ridiculous fluff. I hope you enjoyed it. <3


End file.
